GOP Senators Angry New Leaked Details Support Case Against Trump
January 28th 2020
President of the United States Donald J. Trump (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff)
By Emily Singer
A manuscript of former national security adviser John Bolton’s forthcoming book leaked on Sunday night, revealing Bolton said Donald Trump did indeed demand a quid pro quo from the Ukrainians.
That bombshell revelation from a former top Trump aide adds fire to the very heart of Democrats’ argument against Trump: that he abused the office of the presidency by illegally withholding military aid to Ukraine for his own personal political gain.
However, Republican senators appear to be angrier that Bolton’s book leaked before they could acquit Trump than they are about Bolton’s allegations.
Maggie Haberman of the New York Times reported Monday morning that “several Republican senators had angrily called the White House,” which had a copy of Bolton’s manuscript for weeks. While she didn’t name the angry senators, Haberman said those senators felt “blindsided” and were upset because “Mr. Bolton’s account flies in the face of the rationale the president’s lawyers have offered the Senate for his actions.”
Sen. Josh Hawley, the Missouri Republican who attempted to dismiss the articles of impeachment before a trial even began, said as much in an interview Monday morning on “Fox & Friends.”
“Listen, I can’t tell from the New York Times report what is actually being reported here,” Hawley said. “I can’t tell if this is something new. I can’t tell if they’ve actually seen the manuscript. It’s all a bunch of hearsay. Clearly, it’s an attempt to try to influence the course of the trial.”
Bolton’s revelation puts pressure on Senate Republicans to allow for witness testimony at the impeachment trial. Democrats need four GOP senators to vote to allow witnesses.
Democrats are demanding to hear from Bolton, given his book manuscript would help prove their allegation of Trump’s quid pro quo with Ukraine.
Trump denied he ever told Bolton to tie the release of military aid to Ukraine investigating his political rivals.
However, it wouldn’t be the first time Trump lied and denied something that was true.
Just last week, video evidence emerged showing that Trump does indeed know Lev Parnas, the indicted associate of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Trump denied knowing Parnas, who has now proven to be a supporting player in the Ukraine scandal.
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