There may be enough new pressure on Senate Republicans to allow witnesses at President Trump’s impeachment trial, after the leak from a forthcoming book by former national security adviser John Bolton that contradicts what the White House has been telling the country.
Why it matters: This is a dramatic, 11th-hour inflection point for the trial, with an eyewitness rebuttal to Trump’s claim that he never tied the hold-up of Ukrainian aid to investigations into Joe Biden.
– GOP sources say the revelation could be enough to sway the four Republican senators needed for witnesses — especially since Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine have already strongly signaled they’d vote for witnesses.
What happened: Bolton alleges in his book — “The Room Where It Happened,” out March 17 — that Trump explicitly told him “he wanted to continue freezing $391 million in security assistance to Ukraine until officials there helped with investigations into Democrats including the Bidens,” the N.Y. Times reported.
– Trump strongly denied Bolton’s claims on Twitter early today: “I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. … If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book.”
The state of play: Republican sources tell Axios that party leaders and the White House will still try to resist witnesses because, as one top aide put it, “there is a sense in the Senate that if one witness is allowed, the floodgates are open.”
– “If [Bolton] says stuff that implicates, say Mick [Mulvaney] or [Mike] Pompeo, then calls for them will intensify,” the aide said.
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- Discussion
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Republican sources tell Axios that party leaders and the White House will still try to resist impeachment witnesses because, as one top aide put it, "there is a sense in the Senate that if one witness is allowed, the floodgates are open." https://t.co/FvZGOJzp4F
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 27, 2020
Siri, show me a cover-up. https://t.co/dn2KnJfdrR
— Miranda Yaver (@mirandayaver) January 27, 2020
If McConnell was blindsided by Trump, a bad move for the WH.
If McConnell knew and blindsided his own members, an unforgivable coverup by a Majority Leader. https://t.co/znTVXWCAlL— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) January 27, 2020
My take on the Bolton book bombshell:
The president’s lawyers didn’t mention Bolton in their opening arguments on Saturday. Now we know why. They must have known what’s in his book—and that his testimony would devastate their defense. https://t.co/euN61P2mf5
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) January 27, 2020
WATCH: Sen. Romney: "I think it’s increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton" in the impeachment trial. https://t.co/co4re2BYub
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 27, 2020
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