Trump targets Bolton as impeachment proceedings heat up

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump attacked his former national security adviser John Bolton on Wednesday as he appeared as a possible 11th-hour witness in the impeachment trial of the president, complicating the White House’s appeal for a rapid acquittal.

For the first time later in the day, senators were prepared to question accusers of the president and his lawyers as a fight over Bolton’s testimony managed to play out behind the scenes.

Democrats encourage the Senate to summon Bolton after news that his new White House tell-all book substantiates against Trump’s charges of the misuse-of-power impeachment trial.

Bolton allegedly writes that the president donald Trump told him personally in August that a freeze in military assistance to Ukraine was directly linked to Trump’s demand for Ukraine to launch inquiries into Joe Biden.

Trump said in an early morning tweeted that Bolton, whom he dismissed as a White House National Security Adviser in September after 17 months, had shown bad judgment in a role he had begged for.

President Donald Trump took to social media and said, “For a guy who couldn’t get approved for the Ambassador to the U.N. years ago, couldn’t get approved for anything since, “begged” me for a non-Senate approved job, which I gave him despite many saying “Don’t do it, sir,” takes the job, mistakenly says “Libyan Model” on T.V.”

….many more mistakes of judgement, gets fired because frankly, if I listened to him, we would be in World War Six by now, and goes out and IMMEDIATELY writes a nasty & untrue book. All Classified National Security. Who would do this?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2020

Trump further wrote on Twitter, “Many more mistakes of judgment, gets fired because frankly, if I listened to him, we would be in World War Six by now, and goes out and IMMEDIATELY writes a nasty & untrue book. All Classified National Security. Who would do this.”