From Far & Near
U.S. Impeachment Watch-7
By Shashi Malla
The Bolton Blues for Trump
The White House and Republicans were in a muddle Monday and struggled with great difficulty to deal with the situation created by John Bolton [indirectly], who has blown the impeachment trial open with the leaked manuscript of his forthcoming book: “The Room Where It Happened” (CNN).
In the cloistered confines of the Senate chamber, Trump’s defence team made its arguments as if the Bolton bombshell had absolutely no impact on their case.
According to reports on the leaked manuscript, Bolton alleges that Trump absolutely tied the release of US security aid to the tune of nearly US Dollar $ 400 million to investigations by Ukraine into his political rival Joe Biden. It all confirms and amplifies the narrativebehind the Democratic charges that Trump personally abused his presidential power and obstructed Congress [the two articles of impeachment forwarded by the House to the Senate].
Bolton Thoroughly Contradicts Trump’s Defence
Bolton [in his book manuscript] pokes holes in the defence Trump’s team is currently presenting in a completely thorough manner (Marshall Cohen/CNN):
- The ‘Quid Pro Quo’ [something for something] is again confirmed.
According to The New York Times [which broke the latest story], Trump told Bolton directly that he didn’t want any US aid flowing to Ukraine until President Zelensky helped out with the investigations. Trump also used this rationale to rebuff nearly a dozen attempts by Bolton and others to release the aid package. Trump and his allies relentlessly denied that Trump withheld Oval Office meetings or foreign aid from Ukraine, and that he didn’t pressure Ukrainian President VolodymyrZelensky to do anything.
Even on Saturday, deputy White House counsel Michael Purpura was blithely arguing: “We know there was no quid pro quo on the July 25 call. We know the Ukrainians did not know that security assistance had been paused at the time of the call. There was simply no evidence anywhere that President Trump ever linked security assistance to any investigations.”
Trump’s ‘alternative reality’ now lies in tatters.
He did try to contradict Bolton in a tweet: “ I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens,” and accused Bolton of trying to promote his book!
Since the majority of Americans recognize Trump as a congenital liar, he is now on thin ice.
- There was no policy reason for withholding aid
Trump’s lawyers maintained that Trump did not freeze the aid for personal, political purposes. He was genuinely concerned about corruption in Ukraine and wanted to ensure that European countries were also contributing funds for burden sharing.
However, even before the ‘Bolton bombshell’ facts were publicly available that corroborated that Trump never even mentioned the word “corruption” during his July 25 call with Zelensky, and his “anti-corruption” efforts were only focused on Joe Biden.
Bolton’s account completely shatters the ‘policy’ side of the defence argument, and Trump and his lawyers are like empty vessels making the most sound!
- Firsthand accounts of Trump exist!
On Saturday, White House lawyer Purpura had declared smugly: “Not a single witness testified that the President himself said that there was any connection between any investigations and security assistance, a presidential meeting or anything else.”
But now there was [an involuntary] star witness – Bolton – willing and able to testify that Trump himself connected the investigations to the military aid.
Bolton’s Motives
Bolton was Trump’s third National Security Adviser (NSA). According to a Bolton acquaintance: “He is incredibly smart and capable . . . He could have risen faster if he had just been less of a dick.”
Trump first overlooked him, because he ‘did not look the part’. Trump instead chose Michael Flynn, who lasted only weeks, then Lt.Gen. H.R. McMaster, who served from February 2017 until Bolton took over in April 2018. He was unceremoniously booted out by a Trump tweet.
David Frum of The Atlantic had made the case last September for why Bolton should speak up: “Bolton has been a loyal soldier for his president through all these difficulties. His reward was open disrespect and then public humiliation.”
Bolton had been quietly following Republicans, including Trump, lay out an impeachment defence – not only a version of events, but also a theory of innocence. “By speaking last, he can present testimony precisely calculated to hurt those he most wants to embarrass” (The Atlantic, Jan. 28).
Trial Schedule
- Tuesday was the third and final day of Trump’s legal team’s presentation.
- There will then be up to 16 hours of questions by senators, submitted in writing to US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts – acting as the presiding officer – and then read aloud to the House managers/prosecutors and defence team. This will likely take two days.
- Next, there will be four hours of debate, equally divided between the two sides, to argue on the question of whether to “subpoena witnesses or documents.”
- The big vote on whether to compel witnesses and documents will likely occur on Friday or Saturday.
- A vote on the articles of impeachment would happen sometime after that.
The writer can be reached at: shashipbmalla@hotmail.com
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