Bolton book says House impeachment inquiry should have probed Trump beyond Ukraine
Trump did not know Britain was a nuclear power, asked if Finland was part of Russia, Bolton writes.
Intelligence briefings were a waste of time, since much of the time was spent listening to Trump, rather than Trump listening to the briefers."
During Trump's 2018 meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to John Bolton's book, Sec State Mike Pompeo slipped Bolton a little note dissing the president: He is so full of shit."
Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton's new book says the House impeachment inquiry should have investigated Donald Trump not only for abusing his political power in Ukraine, but for other instances when Trump intervened in law enforcement matters for personal gain.
John Bolton testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington, 2006. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
The Justice Department is suing Bolton to block release of the book.
Bolton says in his new book that the House in its impeachment inquiry should have investigated Trump not just on Ukraine but for a variety of instances when he sought to intervene in law enforcement matters for political reasons. https://t.co/bJmVSIWhI1
- Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) June 17, 2020
During Trump's 2018 meeting with Kim Jong-un, Pompeo slipped Bolton a note disparaging the president, saying, He is so full of shit." Pompeo later said the North Korea diplomacy had
"zero probability of success."- Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) June 17, 2020
Trump didn't seem to know that Britain was a nuclear power and asked if Finland were part of Russia, Bolton writes. Intelligence briefings were a waste of time since much of the time was spent listening to Trump, rather than Trump listening to the briefers."
- Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) June 17, 2020
The book, The Room Where It Happened," was obtained by The New York Times in advance of its scheduled publication next Tuesday and has already become a political lightning rod in the thick of an election campaign and a No. 1 best seller on Amazon.com even before it hits the bookstores," writes Peter Baker at the New York Times:
Mr. Bolton describes several episodes where the president expressed willingness to halt criminal investigations to, in effect, give personal favors to dictators he liked," citing cases involving major firms in China and Turkey. The pattern looked like obstruction of justice as a way of life, which we couldn't accept," Mr. Bolton writes, adding that he reported his concerns to Attorney General William P. Barr.
Mr. Bolton also adds a striking new allegation by saying that Mr. Trump overtly linked trade negotiations to his own political fortunes by asking President Xi Jinping of China to buy a lot of American agricultural products to help him win farm states in this year's election. Mr. Trump, he writes, was pleading with Xi to ensure he'd win. He stressed the importance of farmers, and increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat in the electoral outcome."
(...) The Justice Department filed a last-minute lawsuit against Mr. Bolton this week seeking to stop publication even as Mr. Trump's critics complained that Mr. Bolton should have come forward during impeachment proceedings rather than save his account for a $2 million book contract.
Never forget, Bolton was involved in Cambridge Analytica.
Trump directly asked China's Xi to buy agricultural products to help him win farm states in 2020, Bolton writes. Trump was pleading with Xi to ensure he'd win. He stressed the importance of farmers, and increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat in the electoral outcome."
- Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) June 17, 2020
Trump talked about intervening in criminal cases like ZTE and Halkbank "to, in effect, give personal favors to dictators he liked," Bolton writes. "The pattern looked like obstruction of justice as a way of life, which we couldn't accept."
- Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) June 17, 2020
Bolton confirms previous @maggieNYT @nytmike report on Trump linking security aid for Ukraine to his desire for investigations into Democrats. But he says Democrats should have looked at the Halkbank and ZTE matters, among others, to build a broader case.
- Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) June 17, 2020
Had they done so, he writes, "there might have been a greater chance to persuade others that high crimes and misdemeanors' had been perpetrated."
- Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) June 17, 2020
I'm trying to calculate the level of cynicism it takes to admonish the House while also refusing to testify before it.
- Tom Maxwell (@universalshow) June 17, 2020
Folks should read this story from @peterbakernyt on the new @AmbJohnBolton book, but as a completely irrelevant aside @nytimes picked the perfect Jim from the office photo pic.twitter.com/posv0mAsUQ
- Zachary Fryer-Biggs (@ZachFB) June 17, 2020
John Bolton can, and I cannot emphasize this enough, fuck directly off into the goddamn sun https://t.co/M7xeUxz6Ja
- andi zeisler (@andizeisler) June 17, 2020
And of course, don't forget that Bolton could have said all of this under oath or simply in interviews back in January when the impeachment inquiry was ongoing > https://t.co/BBDpdcmYqd
- Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 17, 2020
President Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to help him win the 2020 U.S. election, telling Xi during a summit dinner last year that increased agricultural purchases by Beijing from American farmers would aid his electoral prospects. https://t.co/KxuSL5UrCt
- Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) June 17, 2020
The New York Times has obtained a copy of @AmbJohnBolton's book, "The Room Where It Happened." https://t.co/EJj0hctAfh
- David Gura (@davidgura) June 17, 2020
NEW Bolton book excerpt in WSJ: In June 2019, Xi "explained to Trump why he was basically building concentration camps in Xinjiang. ... Trump said that Xi should go ahead with building the camps, which Trump thought was exactly the right thing to do." https://t.co/7cuIvX1D97
- Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) June 17, 2020
Is there a word for "Powerful, well-placed person who sees firsthand that the President routinely commits impeachable offenses, yet refuses to testify, but then does a book when it's too late"? https://t.co/ZWVU8hRP2B
- Elie Honig (@eliehonig) June 17, 2020
Bolton's book contains the shocking revelation that Trump is exactly what he appears to be & behaves exactly the way he has always behaved. https://t.co/UCCqusQ9tn
- David Roberts (@drvox) June 17, 2020