Former national security adviser John Bolton argued that President Trump would have been acquitted in the Senate’s impeachment trial even if he had testified in front of the chamber.
Bolton refused to testify in the impeachment trial unless he was subpoenaed by the Senate despite relevant excerpts from his book being leaked during the trial. After the Senate voted against bringing in additional witnesses, which would have included the former national security adviser, Trump was acquitted by the Republican-controlled chamber.
“People can argue about what I should have said and what I should have done,” Bolton said at an event with Susan Rice, another former national security adviser, at Vanderbilt University on Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. “I would bet you a dollar right here and now, my testimony would have made no difference to the ultimate outcome.”
In addition, he argued that the House “committed impeachment malpractice” and that “the process drove Republicans who might have voted for impeachment away because it was so partisan.”
In leaked copies of Bolton’s draft manuscript, which was sent to the National Security Council for review, he claimed the president told him that military aid to Ukraine would be suspended until the country’s government announced investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Trump denied the claim.
Bolton’s book, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, is scheduled to be released on March 17.
