‘He’s done with Trump’: John Bolton watchers explain why ‘weird’ ex-adviser is now willing to testify
Former National Security adviser John Bolton announced on Monday that he would testify before the Senate in the trial of President Donald Trump if he is asked.
Bolton made the remarks in a statement on his website.
National security experts quickly weighed in on Twitter with explanations and ideas about why Bolton had waited until now to say he would comply with a Senate subpoena.
Read some of the tweets below.
Ahem. Bolton is much happier with the White House at this particular moment.
— Zach Wolf (@zbyronwolf) January 6, 2020
What does this Bolton news mean? He got his escalation with Iran so now he’ll testify but downplay Trump’s clear extortion of Zelensky (aka what he called “the drug deal”? Sorry to be cynical but…
— Joan Walsh (@joanwalsh) January 6, 2020
did John Bolton just make a big deal out of saying hed comply with a subpoena to testify from the thing that almost definitely won’t subpoena him to testify
— Asawin Suebsaeng (@swin24) January 6, 2020
What does this Bolton news mean? He got his escalation with Iran so now he’ll testify but downplay Trump’s clear extortion of Zelensky (aka what he called “the drug deal”? Sorry to be cynical but…
— Joan Walsh (@joanwalsh) January 6, 2020
Would love to know why Bolton did this now, today. What changed, other than the senate coming back…
— Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) January 6, 2020
Keep in mind: McConnell has REPEATEDLY said that he does NOT want to bring witnesses that did not testify as a part of the House inquiry before the Senate during a trial.
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) January 6, 2020
On the one hand saying you’d agree to a lawful subpoena should not be considered news. On the other, Bolton seems to have boxed McConnell in a bit here.
— Sam Stein (@samstein) January 6, 2020
Curious what others say. But Bolton’s comment strikes me as meaningless. If he’s subpoenaed in the Senate trial, of course he has to testify. I don’t believe such a subpoena would even be reviewable by a court.
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) January 6, 2020
2/ Critically, remember that the person who would sign off on such a subpoena (under current Senate rules and subject to be overruled by majority of senators) is Chief Justice John Roberts.
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) January 6, 2020
John Bolton news that will put a lot of pressure on Senate Republicans to call him as a witness for the impeachment trial: “If the Senate issues a subpoena for my testimony, I am prepared to testify.”
— Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) January 6, 2020
This could be a way for Bolton to have it both ways — appear like he’s offering cooperating that he knows he’ll never be forced to deliver. And still save the juicy stuff for his book.
— Chris Megerian (@ChrisMegerian) January 6, 2020
fascinated by Bolton’s timing here.
Could easily have reached this conclusion while Dems were still doing investigation.
So did he undermine them by waiting for Senate to get control?
Or is he dropping a late bomb on Trump?
And what if House subpoenas him anyway?— Jonathan Tamari (@JonathanTamari) January 6, 2020
The conditions being that the Senate subpoena him? It only takes 51 senators. How much you want to bet Trump comes out within the next 24 hours and says McConnell should do it, in order to exonerate Trump?
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) January 6, 2020
Even if McConnell had votes to prevent Bolton from testifying, Bolton is clearly going public with story (either in Senate or in interviews/his book). If a small delay in story getting out is worth political hit, that’s surely a sign McConnell is TERRIFIED of what Bolton knows.
— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) January 6, 2020
Honest question: What argument does Bolton have for not testifying if the HOUSE now subpoenas him? Why would he obey a Senate subpoena but fight a House one?
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) January 6, 2020
Bolton could have said he’d be willing to testify at any time over the last several months. He instead waits until a Monday, after the holidays. News cycle was focused on Iran (where he got an outcome that he wanted). Articles weren’t moving. Its all just weird.
— Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) January 6, 2020
Bolton wants you to visit his PAC website—where he offers you chances to sign up for a mailing list and donate—to read all about his “offer” to testify IF McConnell’s Senate issues a subpoena (and if he doesn’t change his mind). I’d say hold out until he offers a free toaster.
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) January 6, 2020
Everyone saying “yeah but the Senate won’t subpoena Bolton” … just chill for a moment. Let the president stew with this new cycle for a few hours.
I put my money on Romney/Collins/Murkowski forming a group to push for testimony.
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) January 6, 2020
Everyone saying “yeah but the Senate won’t subpoena Bolton” … just chill for a moment. Let the president stew with this new cycle for a few hours.
I put my money on Romney/Collins/Murkowski forming a group to push for testimony.
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) January 6, 2020
2020 Election
Trump campaign ramps up smear campaign on Obama’s ebola czar for exposing the president’s COVID-19 bumbling: report
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Klain, who is now becoming a fixture on cable news, took part in a video ad touting the campaign of Biden, and used his expertise to rip into the Trump administration's efforts to deal with the national health crisis. That put a target on his back as the president's 2020 campaign team is trying to stem the damage that threatens the president's chances of being re-elected in November.
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The report notes that the final realization about the dangerous spread of COVID-19 preceded the president's rare prime time address to the nation.
The biggest reputational risk Facebook and other social media companies had expected in 2020 was fake news surrounding the US presidential election. Be it foreign or domestic in origin, the misinformation threat seemed familiar, perhaps even manageable.
The novel coronavirus, however, has opened up an entirely different problem: the life-endangering consequences of supposed cures, misleading claims, snake-oil sales pitches and conspiracy theories about the outbreak.
So far, AFP has debunked almost 200 rumors and myths about the virus, but experts say stronger action from tech companies is needed to stop misinformation and the scale at which it can be spread online.
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