John Bolton has now made the Senate’s proceedings on impeaching President Trump more interesting for Senate Republicans. Party members in the House complained throughout the impeachment hearings before their Intelligence Committee that no witness provided first-hand testimony about the July 25 phone call or the president’s intentions.
Now Mr. Bolton, who has that first-hand information about both the July 25 phone call and behind-the-scenes machinations, is willing to testify if subpoenaed. That means the Republicans have to choose between two goals. One is to subpoena Mr. Bolton and hear his testimony to get a more complete picture of the president’s motives and actions vis-a-vis the withholding of military aid to Ukraine. The other is to ignore Mr. Bolton’s offer in order to hold the pro-Trump line regardless of his actions.
In other words, do any Republicans in the Senate even care if the president used taxpayer money that was approved for dispersal to Ukraine by Congress, to try to bolster his campaign for re-election? We’ll soon find out.
On an alternate note, is it not interesting that just after revelations of our missile attack on the Iranian general, Mr. Bolton changed his mind about testifying? Does he perhaps think that there is more than one hand grenade rolling around the Oval Office?
— Mark Lovegreen
Anchorage
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