We knew Bolton was just trying to sell a book. And we knew Trump would obliterate him. But we didn’t know it would happen this fast!
Now, Trump tweeted “GAME OVER!”
In fact, Trump is responding to a video that leads both Democrats and Republicans to question the credibility of former national security adviser John Bolton.
As Fox News reports:
Trump linked to an interview of Bolton in August 2019 concerning Ukraine policy. In the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty interview clip, Bolton made no mention of any illicit quid pro quo, and acknowledged, as Republicans have claimed, that combating “corruption” in Ukraine was a “high priority” for the Trump administration.
Bolton also called Trump’s communications with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “cordial,” without mentioning any misconduct. It seemingly contradicted reported assertions in Bolton’s forthcoming book that Trump explicitly told him he wanted to tie military aid to Ukraine to an investigation of Joe Biden. (Zelensky has said his communications with Trump involved no pressure for any investigation.)
GAME OVER! pic.twitter.com/yvMa6bPqfy
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2020
And that’s not the only video raising eyebrows!
Fox uncovered separate video in which #ShiftySchiff clearly states Bolton holds a distinct “lack of credibility,” further asserting Bolton is “prone to conspiracy theories.” But suddenly this week Schiff claimed Bolton’s testimony is essential to a fair impeachment trial?
Fox continues:
“This is someone who’s likely to exaggerate the dangerous impulses of the president toward belligerence, his proclivity to act without thinking, and his love of conspiracy theories,” Schiff told MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on March 22, 2018, when Trump named Bolton national security adviser.
“And I’ll, you know, just add one data point to what you were talking about earlier, John Bolton once suggested on Fox News that the Russian hack of the DNC [Democratic National Committee] was a false flag operation that had been conducted by the Obama administration,” he said. “So, you add that kind of thinking to [former U.S. attorney] Joe diGenova and you have another big dose of unreality in the White House.”
Schiff made similar arguments back in May 2005, saying in an interview with CNN’s “Crossfire” that Bolton was “more focused on the next job than doing well at the last job” when he was up for nomination as ambassador to the United Nations under then-President George W. Bush.
“And particularly given the history, where we’ve had the politicizing of intelligence over WMD [weapons of mass destruction], why we would pick someone who the very same issue has been raised repeatedly, and that is John Bolton’s politicization of the intelligence he got on Cuba and other issues, why we would want someone with that lack of credibility, I can’t understand,” Schiff had said.
Even baby black Jesus, aka Barack Obama, weighed in on Bolton.
As Fox tells us,
Then-Sen. Barack Obama, in 2005, echoed those arguments, calling Bolton “damaged goods” whose appointment as ambassador means “we will have less credibility and ironically be less equipped to reform the United Nations in the way that it needs to be reformed.”
Obama separately had said that Bolton “bullies, marginalizes and undermines those who do not agree with him.” Other prominent Democrats agreed at the time.
Bolton himself had admitted in the past that he would be more than willing to lie if he felt it was in the nation’s interest.
“If I had to say something I knew was false to protect American national security, I would do it,” Bolton said in an interview with Fox Business in 2010.
About Face
It’s practically comical to watch Schiff do a complete about face. Now, he calls Bolton “essential to the search for truth.” Which is a lot like Comey calling his book “A Higher Loyalty,” knowing he’s as crooked as a three dollar bill.
In fact, Schiff now claims it to be impossible to vote on the articles of impeachment without Bolton’s two cents.
“I think for the senators, and I’m just not talking about the four that have been so much the focus of attention, for every senator, Democrat and Republican, I don’t know how you can explain that you wanted a search for the truth in this trial and say you don’t want to hear from a witness who had a direct conversation about the central allegation in the articles of impeachment,” Schiff said on CNN’s “New Day.”
And Schiff doesn’t even care that his hypocrisy is center stage. In fact, he stated, “I’m no fan of John Bolton, but I like him a little more now than I used to.” In other words, “I hate you until I need you, then I actually love you.” At least that’s my take on Schiff’s about-face.
Real Questions
And while #DesperateDems want Bolton to testify, it seems Schiff should be the one answering a few questions.
For example, what did Schiff know? Did he help the whistleblower draft his complaint? Further, did Schiff act as an adviser to the so-called whistleblower? These are the more substantial questions we must seek answers to.
As Lindsey Graham explains, Bolton’s answers are nothing more than a moot point.
“It is my opinion, based on the law and facts, that additional testimony is unnecessary in this case,” Graham said in a statement. “For the sake of argument, one could assume everything attributable to John Bolton is accurate and still the House case would fall well below the standards to remove a president from office.”
These sentiments mirror Mike Huckabee’s take on the situation.
“People need to remember that the issue of having — whether it’s John Bolton or [Acting White House Chief of Staff] Mick Mulvaney — the president has a right to have the inner circle of his brain trust around him without the fear that the other branch of government is going to come in and pry information out of him, which would, in the corporate world, be proprietary. But in this sense it’s still about executive privilege.”
And even if Bolton is telling the truth, Trump still didn’t commit a crime.
Instead, the President made an effort to end corruption. No wonder Democrats are mad!
“The president’s been very transparent, very clear about what he said, when he said it and to whom he said it. And I don’t think there’s any big revelations coming out,” Huckabee said. “And the fact is the Ukrainians got the money that they wanted, they got a heck of a lot more than they got from the previous administration, who gave them blankets and MRE’s [Meals Ready to Eat]. That was all they ever got.”
“I’m not sure what the fuss is about. I just have to believe that this is a lot of ‘manufactured crisis,’ as Democrats like to say.
This is why Trump tweeted GAME OVER! Because it is…
