Democrats are desperately trying to get John Bolton to testify in the Senate trial to hear what he has to say about President Trump and Ukraine, in the hopes they can make up for their weak case for impeachment with some brand new bombshell that will turn the tide against Trump.
But the Democrats have already heard from John Bolton. On August 27, 2019, Bolton gave an interview with Radio Free Europe and spoke about both of Trump’s phone calls with President Zelensky.
Bolton was asked if he planned to meet with President Zelensky, and what messaged he planned to bring to him.
“Well, I will be meeting Zelensky, he and President Trump have already spoken twice. The President called to congratulate President Zelensky on his election and then on his success in the parliamentary election. They were very warm and cordial calls,” Bolton said. [Emphasis added]
Bolton continued, “The success of Ukraine maintaining its freedom, its system of representative government, a free-market economy free of corruption and dealing with problems of the Donbas and the Crimea are high priorities here obviously and high priorities for the United States as well.”
Adam Schiff: "Ask John Bolton."
John Bolton in 2019: @realDonaldTrump's phone calls with President Zelensky were "very warm and cordial… the success of Ukraine … [maintaining] a free market economy free of corruption … is high priorit[y] of the US" pic.twitter.com/w6lAuDCKmR
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) January 29, 2020
Well isn’t that interesting? John Bolton described the call very similary to how President Trump has described the call and to how President Zelensky has described the call. No quid pro quo. No blackmail. No linkage between investigations and aid.
It looks like we already know what Bolton really has to say… at least what he had to say before he held a grudge about being fired.
_____
Matt Margolis is the author of Trumping Obama: How President Trump Saved Us From Barack Obama’s Legacy and the bestselling book The Worst President in History: The Legacy of Barack Obama. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattMargolis
Join the conversation as a VIP Member