The Patriot Post® · Impeachment Trial Days 4 & 5: Bolton Leak, Dem Insults, Trump's Defense
Once again, the timing of another “bombshell” revelation has the all-too-familiar odor of the deep state. On Sunday, The New York Times published “just received” leaked excerpts from a soon-to-be-published book by former National Security Advisor John Bolton, in which Bolton alleges that President Donald Trump’s motive for freezing aide to Ukraine was to spur investigations into Joe and Hunter Biden. So, just as Trump’s legal team is poised to present its arguments against the Democrats’ vacuous impeachment charade, and just before the Senate considers calling additional witnesses, the Leftmedia obtains and releases what a presumed Bolton testimony would be. Coincidence? We think not. What are the chances the Times sat on this nugget for weeks?
Bolton’s team has laid the blame for the leak on the National Security Council, explaining that he had sent his manuscript to the NSC to ensure it contained no classified information. His team added that Bolton was assured by the NSC that none of the book’s contents would be disclosed to anyone.
Trump, however, isn’t buying that explanation. According to the President, “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.”
Bolton tendered his resignation (or was fired) last September. While no specific reason was given by either party for Bolton’s sudden exit, it wasn’t that surprising given that Trump and Bolton had never really seen eye to eye on foreign policy. Considering both men’s large egos, it may have boiled down to too many chefs in the kitchen. How much the apparent disagreement over Ukraine contributed to Bolton’s exit is unknown, but Democrats and the Leftmedia are playing it up as the reason he left — to avoid getting caught up in a scandal.
Either way, as Mark Alexander says, “Bolton’s allegation re-warms the original ‘quid pro quo’ claim, which was the same thing then-VP Biden threatened in order to get the Ukrainian prosecutor fired — a prosecutor who was in position to look into Hunter Biden. Remember how proudly Biden mentioned his threat to drop Ukraine’s debt rating?”
With this latest Leftmedia “bombshell” report, the real story is not what Bolton supposedly alleges, as all of this was already known. The real scandal here is the orchestrated timing in which this piece of information “fell” into the Times’s lap. You might even say the Leftmedia is interfering in an election.
In other trial news…
House Democrats offered their final arguments for removing Trump last Friday, with both Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler leveling such over-the-top and baseless accusations that it left many wondering if they hadn’t just blown up any possibility of getting witnesses called. Schiff claimed that Senate Republicans were warned by party leadership that if they voted to convict Trump they’d have their “head on a pike.” His hyperbolic claim even had Lisa Murkowski, one of the four moderate Senate Republican votes Democrats need, responding, “He lost me there.”
Nadler accused Trump of being a dictator, saying, “He wants to be all-powerful. He does not have to respect the Congress — he does not have to respect the representatives of the people. Only his will goes. He is a dictator. This must not stand. That is another reason he must be moved from office.” The statement was so obviously ridiculous that even Leftmedia personalities were facepalming. Huffington Post reporter Igor Bobic sarcastically observed, “Exactly what GOP senators want to hear,” while CNN’s Kim Priestap pointed out, “Dictators don’t allow political critics to call them dictators from the floor of the Senate, let alone on national TV.”
So, do Schiff and Nadler really not realize that insulting the intelligence and character of those whose votes they’ll need for getting witnesses is not a winsome strategy? Indeed they do. In fact, Schiff and Nadler knew exactly what they were doing and intended it. Their ultimate objective is not to get witnesses but to paint Senate Republicans as so beholden to Trump that they will reject any “reasonable” request from Democrats for a fair trial. By insulting Republicans, Schiff and Nadler aim to get them to dig in against Democrats, while the Leftmedia plays up orchestrated leaks of purportedly damaging information that serves to further the narrative against Republicans.
And yet, right on cue, Sen. Mitt Romney says, “I think it’s increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton.” Democrats have a play either way.
Finally, the Democrats are engaged in this deceptive gamesmanship because they know they have no evidence or facts to back up their demands for Trump’s removal. On Saturday, Trump’s defense team made opening remarks and laid out a six-point case that effectively refuted the Democrats’ case for impeachment. Today, Trump’s legal team continues his defense.