House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff said Thursday that former White House National Security Advisor John Bolton’s new book provides further evidence that President Trump has misused his powers as president for personal and political gain.
In his forthcoming book, Mr. Bolton said Mr. Trump stressed the electoral importance of trade policy to Chinese President Xi Jinping and that Mr. Trump praised Mr. Xi’s plan to build “concentration camps” in Xinjiang for China’s Uighur minority population.
“Whether such a despicable statement was designed to curry election help, trade concessions or just owing to Trump’s fondness for dictatorship, his statement is a betrayal of American values,” Mr. Schiff said in a statement Thursday.
The White House has fiercely rejected the claims made in Mr. Bolton’s book and Mr. Trump said Wednesday night that his former confidant “broke the law” by publishing an expose containing classified information from his tenure inside the Trump White House.
Mr. Schiff, a California Democrat who led the impeachment inquiry into Mr. Trump, said that the allegations detailed in Mr. Bolton’s book “are very serious.”
“They further demonstrate what we proved at trial, not only regarding his Ukraine misconduct, but more consequentially, that he has a pattern and practice of abusing his power for personal and political gain,” Mr. Schiff said.
In December, the House voted to impeach Mr. Trump on abuse of power and obstruction of Congress charges stemming from allegations that he, along with a handful of senior administration members and lawyer Rudolph Giuliani, pressured Ukraine into opening investigations into his political rival Joesph R. Biden.
The Senate later rejected a key vote on including witnesses in its own impeachment trial.
“If these new allegations are accurate, it is further proof that Trump’s coercion of Ukraine, for which he was impeached, is part of a persistent pattern by Trump of abusing his position and misusing the powers of the U.S. government to seek personal and political benefits from foreign governments,” Mr. Schiff’s statement read.
He vowed to “continue to hold Trump accountable,” and said he would be consulting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other chairs on “next steps.”
Such next steps could include subpoenaing Mr. Bolton, House Majority Whip James Clyburn suggested Thursday.
“I really believe that we may need to get to the bottom of this,” Mr. Clyburn, South Carolina Democrat, said on CNN, adding that Democrats “ought to consider” subpoenaing Mr. Bolton.
“Not so much for impeachment — I don’t care about impeachment. It’s for preserving this electoral process that we have because this president is doing everything he can to undermine fair and unfettered elections in this country.”
“I believe John Bolton can do a great service if he were to come now and let the American people know that this election, this year is under threat of being invaded once again by a foreign power,” he said.
• David Sherfinski contributed to this story.
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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