The House Democratic impeachment managers renewed their call Sunday night for John R. Bolton to testify at President Trump’s impeachment trial, following a report that the president told his national security adviser last August he wanted to withhold military aid from Ukraine until officials there started an investigation of Democratic candidate Joseph R. Biden.
“There can be no doubt now that Mr. Bolton directly contradicts the heart of the president’s defense and therefore must be called as a witness at the impeachment trial of President Trump,” the impeachment managers said in a statement.
The New York Times reported Sunday night that Mr. Bolton, who has since left his post, said in a draft of a forthcoming book that Mr. Trump told him that he wanted to keep blocking U.S. military aid to Ukraine until officials there helped with investigations of Mr. Biden and his son Hunter.
The Times reported that the book draft was sent to the White House as part of a review process.
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Sunday night that Mr. Bolton “has the evidence.”
“It’s up to four Senate Republicans to ensure that John Bolton, Mick Mulvaney, and the others with direct knowledge of President Trump’s actions testify in the Senate trial,” Mr. Schumer tweeted.
The development comes just as the president’s lawyers are in the midst of making their defense in the Senate trial.
Mr. Bolton’s lawyer, Chuck Cooper, said in a statement Sunday night that he submitted a book manuscript last Dec. 30 on behalf of Mr. Bolton to the National Security Council’s records management division for “standard pre-publication security review for classified information.”
“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,” Mr. Cooper said.
The president said last week that he has concerns about allowing his former national security adviser to testify at his trial.
“I don’t know if we left on the best of terms. I would say probably not,” Mr. Trump said of Mr. Bolton. “You don’t like people testifying when they didn’t leave on good terms — and that was due to me, not due to him.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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