Over the weekend the New York Times leaked a newsy item reportedly from former National Security Council Adviser John Bolton’s as yet unpublished book. The book reportedly includes information about President Trump’s desire to hold up aid for Ukraine – aid that was, in fact, given to the troubled country.
President Trump made that point in a series of tweets on Monday:
The Democrat controlled House never even asked John Bolton to testify. It is up to them, not up to the Senate!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 27, 2020
…(Democrats said I never met) and released the military aid to Ukraine without any conditions or investigations – and far ahead of schedule. I also allowed Ukraine to purchase Javelin anti-tank missiles. My Administration has done far more than the previous Administration.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 27, 2020
…transcripts of my calls with President Zelensky are all the proof that is needed, in addition to the fact that President Zelensky & the Foreign Minister of Ukraine said there was no pressure and no problems. Additionally, I met with President Zelensky at the United Nations…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 27, 2020
News of Bolton’s alleged reason behind the hold-up, that Trump wanted a Biden investigation, has now resulted in a couple of Republican senators, Collins and Romney, saying they may want Bolton to testify in the impeachment trial.
It’s an allegation that Trump vehemently denied:
I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book. With that being said, the…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 27, 2020
As PJ Media reported, the pre-sales for Bolton’s book were opened on Amazon the same day as the leak.
Did Bolton orchestrate the leak? Such a leak would subject him to sanctions before his book was properly vetted to prevent the release of classified information. No, Bolton’s attorney told The Washington Times. The leak showed “the prepublication review process [at the NSC] has been corrupted.”
The denial gave credence to the leak while simultaneously giving Bolton an arm’s-length distance from the misdeed.
On Monday, Bolton’s publisher tsk tsked the reputed leak and sent a tweet letting everyone know where to get the book.
NEW: Statement from Ambassador John Bolton, Simon and Schuster and Javelin Literary: pic.twitter.com/WpYV44bEWQ
— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) January 27, 2020
But now a Breitbart News report may shed some light on where the leak from the unpublished book came from.
A source in the White House told Breitbart that Lt. Colonel Yevgeny Vindman is a senior ethics lawyer who vets materials for classified information, such as books and articles, before they’re allowed to be published. Breitbart reports that Vindman vetted Bolton’s book in December.
Vindman … Vindman… why does that name seem so familiar?
The last time you heard of a guy named Vindman he was testifying against the president of the United States at the House impeachment inquiry. His beef? He didn’t like President Trump’s Ukraine policy.
National Security Council aide Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman is sworn in to testify before the House Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019, during a public impeachment hearing of President Donald Trump’s efforts to tie U.S. aid for Ukraine to investigations of his political opponents. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
At the time, you learned Army Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman had worked with the man largely thought to be the impeachment whistleblower who was working over at the CIA. We also learned that Vindman had a twin brother who worked on the NSC staff. His name is Yevgeny.
As the Times reminds us:
“Yevgeny Vindman is the identical twin brother of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, one of Democrats’ main witnesses in the impeachment inquiry. Alexander Vindman testified that he told his brother about Mr. Trump’s July 25 call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in which Mr. Trump is accused of pressuring his counterpart for a Biden investigation.
Alexander Vindman told impeachment investigators that his sibling witnessed the decision to move the call’s transcript to a top-secret server.”
The New York Times reporter never saw the book manuscript but took the word of her source on the matter.
Gee, wonder who that was?
Here’s a bigger question: Why are these two still working in a Trump White House?
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