January 26, 2020Gronda Morin

Bolton’s Outline Of Tell All Book Exposing White House Lies Has Been Published By NYT

Note: Dear Readers, Followers and Blogging Friends, I have been absent to the blogging world due to personal issues/ events. Life happens! I will share more at a later date. Thanks for continuing to support my work.
I have been suspicious regarding President Trump’s former National Security Adviser John R. Bolton’s public commitment to willingly testify at the current impeachment trial being conducted by the US Senate against President Donald Trump, if he were to be subpoenaed. I have harbored reservations because I was certain that the White House would take steps to block his giving testimony by invoking “executive privilege,” and that Mr. Bolton would then comply.
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But somehow the outline of Mr. Bolton’s tell-all book has been leaked and published by the New York Times. In numerous instances, the White House’s claims regarding the 2019-2020 Trump-Ukraine scandal are challenged by Mr. Bolton’s version of events.
With this latest development, it’s hard to see how the GOP US senators can continue to act in lock step with its leadership’s plans to refuse to call relevant witnesses like Mr. Bolton, in order to short circuit the US Senate’s obligation to conduct a fair, impartial trial in its search for the truth.
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EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE (NYT)
Can Trump muzzle John Bolton?
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This development is so crucial because if the GOP US senators refuse to allow for witnesses to testify, then the Democrats demand that this is a necessary step as there have been witnesses at every prior impeachment trial will carry the day. Their claim that the GOP US senators are complicit in covering up the president’s mess will  be what future history books will verify.

The 1/26/2020 NY Times report, “Trump Tied Ukraine Aid to Inquiries He Sought, Bolton Book Says” by Maggie Haberman and Michael S. Schmidt  makes public many of Mr. Bolton’s assertions which counter what the White House has been touting. It looks like the White House staffers and lawyers will have to revamp some of their latest talking points.

Excerpts:

President Trump told his national security adviser in August that he wanted to continue freezing $391 million in security assistance to Ukraine until officials there helped with investigations into Democrats including the Bidens, according to an unpublished manuscript by the former adviser, John R. Bolton.

The president’s statement as described by Mr. Bolton could undercut a key element of his impeachment defense: that the holdup in aid was separate from Mr. Trump’s requests that Ukraine announce investigations into his perceived enemies, including former VP Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son Hunter Biden, who had worked for a Ukrainian energy firm while his father was in office.

Mr. Bolton’s explosive account of the matter at the center of Mr. Trump’s impeachment trial, the third in American history, was included in drafts of a manuscript he has circulated in recent weeks to close associates. He sent a draft to the White House for a standard review process for some current and former administration officials who write books.

“The book presents an outline of what Mr. Bolton might testify to if he is called as a witness in the Senate impeachment trial, the people said. The White House could use the pre-publication review process, which has no set time frame, to delay or even kill the book’s publication or omit key passages.”

Over dozens of pages, Mr. Bolton described how the Ukraine affair unfolded over several months until he departed the White House in September. He described not only the president’s private disparagement of Ukraine but also new details about senior cabinet officials who have publicly tried to sidestep involvement.

For example, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo acknowledged privately that there was no basis to claims by the president’s lawyer Rudolph Giuliani that the ambassador to Ukraine was corrupt and believed Mr. Giuliani may have been acting on behalf of other clients, Mr. Bolton wrote.

Mr. Bolton also said that after the president’s July phone call with the president of Ukraine, he raised with Attorney General William Barr his concerns about Mr. Giuliani, who was pursuing a shadow Ukraine policy encouraged by the president, and told Mr. Barr that the president had mentioned him on the call. A spokeswoman for Mr. Barr denied that he learned of the call from Mr. Bolton; the Justice Department has said he learned about it only in mid-August.

And the acting White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, was present for at least one phone call where the president and Mr. Giuliani discussed the ambassador, Mr. Bolton wrote. Mr. Mulvaney has told associates he would always step away when the president spoke with his lawyer to protect their attorney-client privilege.

Link to NYT report: nytimes.com/ Trump Tied Ukraine Aid to Inquiries He Sought, Bolton Book Says…….

13 comments

  2. I am SOOOOOO happy to see you back that I am dancing! I’ve missed you so. Keith kept me posted whenever he talked to you, but I’ve just missed the heck out of you! Love ‘n hugs, my dear friend! Now, I’ll go back and read the post, but first I wanted to let you know how happy I am to see you back and to give you a huge hug!!!! 🤗

    Liked by 3 people

    • Dear Jill,

      It would be an understatement that I gave into a dark blue funk to where I didn’t want to see or talk to anyone. I apologize for acting like a jerk.

      I’ll post more about this later. It was not just one event but a series of ugly circumstances. Thanks for reaching out to me.

      Keith did tell me that he has been keeping you informed. Recently, he and Mary Ann took me out to dinner in Tampa. They are a very attractive, gracious couple who know how to make anyone feel at home in their company. It was a lovely time.

      If ever you decide to venture out to Florida, you are always welcome to stay at my home. I would love to visit with you.

      Thanks for not giving up on me and for your words of encouragement.

      Hugs, Gronda

      Liked by 3 people

      • Hi Gronda,

        Thank goodness you are back with us. I have been asking Jill about you and she told me what happened to you as a result of the fall and that Keith and his wife were down your way about one week ago to have a lovely lunch with you.

        To get you out of your deep blue funk sooner and easier, and in the spirit of the Chinese New Year still being celebrated right now (for a total of 15 days), I have a very comprehensive post for you to enjoy at https://soundeagle.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/soundeagle-in-chinese-new-year-celebration-spring-festival-lion-dance-traditional-culture-and-architecture/

        Any of your Chinese friends would be very impressed or even shocked if you were to regurgitate to them just a fraction of the contents of the said post.

        If you like cooking, there are some fantastic food and yummy cuisines to tempt you in the post, plus a lot of videos showing how the Chinese New Year is celebrated in different countries and regions of the world.

        Please be informed that this post of mine will benefit from being viewed on a large screen of a desktop or laptop computer, because many of the multimedia posts published on my blog could be too powerful and feature-rich for iPad, iPhone, tablet or other portable devices to handle properly or adequately.

        May you have a very lovely week ahead and happy February to you soon!

        Liked by 2 people

        • Very cool post, thx so much for sharing SoundEagle! I luv celebrating Chinese New Year, many of my Asian friends prepare delectable feasts my family and I are most grateful to partake in the celebration! Have a wonderful and prosperous New Year to you and yours. I’ll be visiting your blog soon, all my love. ❤

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      • Dear, dear Gronda! No apologies are needed … and you were NOT being a jerk. I fully understand, and my heart goes out to you. I was just worried about you. Yes, Keith told me about meeting up with you for lunch and said it was a great time and that you looked grand! Believe me, if I even make it to Florida, you and Horty will be the first two to know, and I appreciate your offer … I would love to stay with you and we could sit up talking about anything and everything for half the night! No, Gronda, I would never give up on you … friends don’t give up on friends. Love ‘n hugs!

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Good to see your back.

    I really appreciate and enjoy the political cartoons, they do so well at expressing things words cannot and you do a good job of designing them to work with the flow of the words.

    I have a little different opinion about Bolton, I just do not trust him—for least two decades.

    Perhaps soon trump will bragging about how he has positively influenced the book market by generating all these anti trump books and how all these “hack writers” would never have been famous without him.

    Liked by 2 people

  5. Hey welcome back, we all missed you very much! Hope all is well, sending you much love and healing. Looking forward to reading more of your important work, WP was not the same without your informative and compassionate voice. Yay! ❤

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Gronda, I welcomed you back on the last post, but will repeat the sentiment here. As Adam Schiff asked the other day of the Senators, do you want to find out the truth now or later? And, as I have asked many a Senator about the incumbent – what will you have to defend next week, the following week, next month….plus you do not even know if the transgression has already been committed? Keith

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
    As always, wondering if any of this will make any difference! Seems reality isn’t ‘REAL” anymore … ‘But somehow the outline of Mr. Bolton’s tell-all book has been leaked and published by the New York Times.’

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