According to a US report, the former national security adviser will argue in a new book that the president intended to freeze security aid to Ukraine - until he launches an investigation against his rival
Bolton's description goes against the president's version // Photo: Islands. Pi, EI. times. Islands
The impeach trial against President Trump in the Senate enters his second week: In the shadow of hearings centered on Republican defense opening arguments, the New York Times reported Monday that former national security adviser John Bolton is about to claim in a new book that the president told him he wanted to "Freeze security aid to Ukraine until Kiev responds to his demand and launch an investigation against Hunter Biden, son of former Vice President Joe Biden, who may be Trump's opponent in the November election."
Bolton's description, which came to the Times in the form of a draft of his unpublished new book, runs counter to the president's assertion that he has so far insisted that he did not condone security assistance to Ukraine in opening an investigation.
Trump's impeachment process continues in the House of Representatives // Photo: Reuters
The said publication must be detrimental to the defense's desire to shorten the impeachment trial, and increase the pressure to witness witnesses. Sen. Mitt Romney, a moderate Republican who is considered one of Trump's critics, said today in response to the publication that "the scenario in which at least four Republican senators will join Democrats (and together they will be a majority in the plenary), voting for Bolton's summons to testimony is becoming increasingly plausible.
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"I think the likelihood that more Republicans will join those of us who believe that John Bolton's remarks should be heard," Romney said. "His relevance to the case is becoming increasingly clear." Romney's girlfriend for the moderate wing of the Republican Party, Sen. Susan Collins, agreed that the announcement about Bolton "strengthens the argument for summoning witnesses and sparking some conversations among my colleagues."
John Bolton visits the Western Wall // Photo: Ziv Sokolov, US Embassy in Jerusalem
The president himself has denied all of his former advisers, suggesting that the motive for the allegations is to make money. "I never told John Bolton that aid to Ukraine was connected to the Democrats' investigation, including the Baidans," Trump wrote on Twitter. "In fact, he never complained about it during his very public layoffs. If John Bolton said it, it was just for selling a book."
President Rudy Giuliani's personal attorney, whose name rose to prominence in the "Ukraine Gate" affair, also dismissed the publication of Bolton's disgust. "I used to love and appreciate John," Giuliani told ABC Network. "I would tell people how wrong they were about how much he returned responsibility. I was wrong."