Bolton book alleges Trump tied Ukraine aid freeze to Biden investigations

DavidPT

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2016
8,601
2,106
Texas
✟196,410.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Former national security adviser John Bolton reportedly claims in his as-yet unpublished memoir that President Trump sought to tie hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Ukraine to his requests for the country's leaders to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden (D) and his son Hunter.

Multiple sources familiar with Bolton's writings told The New York Times that Bolton writes that President Trump personally told him that $391 million in aid to Ukraine should be frozen until Ukrainian officials announced the investigations, including one into the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Bolton book alleges Trump tied Ukraine aid freeze to Biden investigations: NYT


Maybe this is true, maybe it isn't. So how can Bolton actually prove 100% that Trump told him that? Does he have that on tape? Does Bolton have any reason to have it out for Trump, thus could be fabricating this in order to get even with Trump maybe?
 

HTacianas

Well-Known Member
Jul 9, 2018
8,459
8,968
Florida
✟321,876.00
Country
United States
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Single
Former national security adviser John Bolton reportedly claims in his as-yet unpublished memoir that President Trump sought to tie hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Ukraine to his requests for the country's leaders to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden (D) and his son Hunter.

Multiple sources familiar with Bolton's writings told The New York Times that Bolton writes that President Trump personally told him that $391 million in aid to Ukraine should be frozen until Ukrainian officials announced the investigations, including one into the Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Bolton book alleges Trump tied Ukraine aid freeze to Biden investigations: NYT


Maybe this is true, maybe it isn't. So how can Bolton actually prove 100% that Trump told him that? Does he have that on tape? Does Bolton have any reason to have it out for Trump, thus could be fabricating this in order to get even with Trump maybe?

Should we check back in later to see if any of that is true? I gave up on anonymous sources a long time ago. And in this case it's an anonymous source familiar with a book that hasn't been written.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: charsan
Upvote 0

DavidPT

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2016
8,601
2,106
Texas
✟196,410.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Should we check back in later to see if any of that is true? I gave up on anonymous sources a long time ago. And in this case it's an anonymous source familiar with a book that hasn't been written.


But what if it turns out to be true, that Bolton did write that in his upcoming book? Aren't we still back where we started from when I asked this in the OP----So how can Bolton actually prove 100% that Trump told him that? Does he have that on tape? Does Bolton have any reason to have it out for Trump, thus could be fabricating this in order to get even with Trump maybe?
 
Upvote 0

Kentonio

Well-Known Member
Jan 25, 2018
7,467
10,458
48
Lyon
✟266,564.00
Country
France
Faith
Atheist
Marital Status
Single
And in this case it's an anonymous source familiar with a book that hasn't been written.

The article says the book hasn’t got a publication date yet, not that it hasn’t been written yet.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: DaisyDay
Upvote 0

HTacianas

Well-Known Member
Jul 9, 2018
8,459
8,968
Florida
✟321,876.00
Country
United States
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Single
But what if it turns out to be true, that Bolton did write that in his upcoming book? Aren't we still back where we started from when I asked this in the OP----So how can Bolton actually prove 100% that Trump told him that? Does he have that on tape? Does Bolton have any reason to have it out for Trump, thus could be fabricating this in order to get even with Trump maybe?

Even if it was true I don't see Bolton spilling the beans about it. Bolton still has time to work in government again. When someone publishes too much in their memoirs they don't get hired back on.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: charsan
Upvote 0

iluvatar5150

Well-Known Member
Aug 3, 2012
25,028
23,941
Baltimore
✟551,895.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Democrat
Bolton still has time to work in government again.

No, he doesn’t. He’s 71 now and he won’t get hired back to either a Trump or Pence presidency. The absolute earliest he could come back is 2025 at age 76, and that’s only if Trump loses in 2020 and the incumbent Dem loses in 2024.
 
Upvote 0
This site stays free and accessible to all because of donations from people like you.
Consider making a one-time or monthly donation. We appreciate your support!
- Dan Doughty and Team Christian Forums

wing2000

E pluribus unum
Supporter
Aug 18, 2012
20,775
17,082
✟1,389,831.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
...who leaked the contents?

Mr. Bolton’s lawyer blamed the White House for the disclosure of the book’s contents. “It is clear, regrettably, from the New York Times article published today that the pre-publication review process has been corrupted and that information has been disclosed by persons other than those properly involved in reviewing the manuscript,” the lawyer, Charles J. Cooper, said Sunday night.

He said he provided a copy of the book to the White House on Dec. 30 — 12 days after Mr. Trump was impeached — to be reviewed for classified information, though, he said, Mr. Bolton believed it contained none.

The submission to the White House may have given Mr. Trump’s aides and lawyers direct insight into what Mr. Bolton would say if he were called to testify at Mr. Trump’s impeachment trial. It also intensified concerns among some of his advisers that they needed to block Mr. Bolton from testifying, according to two people familiar with their concerns.
Trump Tied Ukraine Aid to Inquiries He Sought, Bolton Book Says
 
Upvote 0

Bobber

Well-Known Member
Feb 10, 2004
6,584
3,076
✟213,723.00
Faith
Non-Denom
Does Bolton have any reason to have it out for Trump, thus could be fabricating this in order to get even with Trump maybe?

And that goes beyond a question. In legal trials that is one big consideration when assessing if the testimony of one should be accepted. Bolton left the White House it can be argued in a disgruntled way. It's common knowledge the President and him hadn't been getting along. And even if Bolton thinks aid was tied to it that's not documented proof so in that regard it would be no better than Sondland's opinion.
 
Upvote 0

essentialsaltes

Stranger in a Strange Land
Oct 17, 2011
32,822
36,129
Los Angeles Area
✟820,785.00
Country
United States
Faith
Atheist
Marital Status
Legal Union (Other)
Fox News

The Times reported that the manuscript included a bombshell claim that Trump explicitly linked a hold on Ukraine aid to an investigation of Joe and Hunter Biden. Trump told Bolton in August, according to a transcript of Bolton's forthcoming book reviewed by the Times, "that he wanted to continue freezing $391 million in security assistance to Ukraine until officials there helped with investigations into Democrats including the Bidens."

Bolton's representatives [complained about the leak but] made clear he was not denying the Times' claim concerning the Ukraine aid holdup and the possible investigation of the Bidens.
 
Upvote 0

essentialsaltes

Stranger in a Strange Land
Oct 17, 2011
32,822
36,129
Los Angeles Area
✟820,785.00
Country
United States
Faith
Atheist
Marital Status
Legal Union (Other)
anonymous source for a book that hasn't even begun to be fully written let alone published?

AS others have noted, it has been written. It was submitted to national security officials to make sure nothing classified was in it. The supposition is that someone in the Trump administration leaked these contents to the press.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: mark46
Upvote 0

camille70

Newbie
Supporter
Mar 4, 2007
3,658
3,540
Ohio
Visit site
✟597,500.00
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Single
Politics
US-Others
And that goes beyond a question. In legal trials that is one big consideration when assessing if the testimony of one should be accepted. Bolton left the White House it can be argued in a disgruntled way. It's common knowledge the President and him hadn't been getting along. And even if Bolton thinks aid was tied to it that's not documented proof so in that regard it would be no better than Sondland's opinion.

Thankfully we still have Mulvaney, Pompeo and others who are still happily employed by this WH and thousands of documents in the Trump administration's possession that can collaborate or contradict what he is claiming.
 
Upvote 0
This site stays free and accessible to all because of donations from people like you.
Consider making a one-time or monthly donation. We appreciate your support!
- Dan Doughty and Team Christian Forums

stevil

Godless and without morals
Feb 5, 2011
6,969
5,734
✟247,498.00
Country
New Zealand
Faith
Atheist
Marital Status
Private
Maybe this is true, maybe it isn't. So how can Bolton actually prove 100% that Trump told him that? Does he have that on tape? Does Bolton have any reason to have it out for Trump, thus could be fabricating this in order to get even with Trump maybe?
The appropriate thing to do given the relevancy to the Trump Impeachment Senate trial, is to bring Bolton in and have him testify under oath. The consequences of him lying under oath are much more dire than him lying in a book.

There is no reason not to have him present what he knows in the trial.
Also there are many others that should testify too.
I don't know if their testimony would help or harm Trump. All I know is that they were close to the action and should testify so that the jury and the public can have the facts.
 
Upvote 0

mark46

Well-Known Member
Supporter
Jan 29, 2010
20,042
4,720
✟830,815.00
Faith
Catholic
Marital Status
Married
Politics
US-Democrat
In the end, there is sn insufficient number of senators prepared to convict, even if everything the Democrats say is true. They simply won't make Trump the first president removed from office.

So, IMHO, none of this matters except as part of the campaign.
 
  • Useful
Reactions: camille70
Upvote 0

DavidPT

Well-Known Member
Sep 26, 2016
8,601
2,106
Texas
✟196,410.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
In the end, there is sn insufficient number of senators prepared to convict, even if everything the Democrats say is true. They simply won't make Trump the first president removed from office.

So, IMHO, none of this matters except as part of the campaign.


It all depends whether some of them are involved in the Biden Ukraine corruption or not, that Trump was wanting the Ukraines to investigate. It wouldn't surprise me if Lindsey Graham somehow was. He sure doesn't want this Biden scandal exposed at this trial. Yet he said it needs to be looked at after the trial. But get rid of Trump through this trial, that Biden mess just might go away altogether.
 
Upvote 0

stevil

Godless and without morals
Feb 5, 2011
6,969
5,734
✟247,498.00
Country
New Zealand
Faith
Atheist
Marital Status
Private
In the end, there is sn insufficient number of senators prepared to convict, even if everything the Democrats say is true. They simply won't make Trump the first president removed from office.

So, IMHO, none of this matters except as part of the campaign.
The Senate are the first round of jury. They are supposed to stand up for the country and the constitution. That is where their loyalty is supposed to be.

Also for the truth. Allowing witnesses and evidence is a process that supports discovery of the truth.

But, impeachment is a political process, that's why its done publically. The people ultimately get to decide if each member of congress stood up for the people. Stood up for the country, stood up for the constitution.

The people, are the last line of defence. If the people fail and stick to partisan lines above democracy, above the constitution, then your democracy and constitution is no more.
 
  • Optimistic
Reactions: DaisyDay
Upvote 0
This site stays free and accessible to all because of donations from people like you.
Consider making a one-time or monthly donation. We appreciate your support!
- Dan Doughty and Team Christian Forums

Kentonio

Well-Known Member
Jan 25, 2018
7,467
10,458
48
Lyon
✟266,564.00
Country
France
Faith
Atheist
Marital Status
Single
In the end, there is sn insufficient number of senators prepared to convict, even if everything the Democrats say is true. They simply won't make Trump the first president removed from office.

So, IMHO, none of this matters except as part of the campaign.

Depends. If John Bolton stands up under oath and says 'Donald Trump directly told me we're holding back aid until they announce an investigation into Joe Biden' then its going to be the biggest news story of the year, and its going to become very difficult for those GOP senators to continue to say 'he did nothing wrong'. If they keep Bolton off the stand then sure acquital is certain, but if he testifies then things could escalate very quickly.
 
Upvote 0