President Donald Trump blasted John Bolton on Wednesday, saying the U.S. would be in “World War Six” if he’d listened to the former national security adviser.
With Democrats calling for Bolton to appear under oath in Trump’s impeachment trial, the president attacked his ex-aide in a pair of tweets. Bolton alleges in a forthcoming book that Trump sought to tie aid to Ukraine to an investigation of the Bidens, which the president denies.
Trump calls the book “nasty & untrue” in his tweets. The White House, in a letter to Bolton’s lawyer, said the book “appears to contain significant amounts of classified information,” and that it may not be published without that information being deleted.
For a guy who couldn’t get approved for the Ambassador to the U.N. years ago, couldn’t get approved for anything since, “begged” me for a non Senate approved job, which I gave him despite many saying “Don’t do it, sir,” takes the job, mistakenly says “Libyan Model” on T.V., and..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2020
Late Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell conceded Republicans don’t have the votes to block witnesses at the trial. Several Republicans apparently are ready to join Democrats in considering in-person testimony from Bolton and perhaps others, the Associated Press reported. A decision to call more witnesses would require 51 votes to pass.
Trump fired Bolton, who is known for his hawkish foreign policy views, in September, saying he disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions.
Beginning Wednesday afternoon, senators had 16 hours to submit written questions to the House impeachment managers and Trump’s legal team. Though hearing from witnesses would prolong the trial, Trump is expected to ultimately be acquitted. Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority, and convicting and removing him would take a two-thirds majority, or 67 senators.
U.S. stock indexes DJIA, +0.04%, which have largely ignored the impeachment drama from Washington, traded higher on Wednesday ahead of an update from the Federal Reserve.
Story cited here.