Impeachment trial: Bolton revelations fuel new calls for testimony

Washington — As President Trump’s attorneys prepare to resume defense arguments in the Senate impeachment trial Monday afternoon, new revelations about the president’s attempts to pressure Ukraine could throw a wrench in Republicans’ plans to vote on acquittal as early as this week.

On Sunday, The New York Times reported former national security adviser John Bolton wrote in a manuscript of his upcoming book that Mr. Trump explicitly refused to release nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine in 2019 unless the country pursued investigations into his political rivals, including the Bidens. The Times reported Bolton had submitted the manuscript to the White House for a standard prepublication review for classified information.

Bolton’s manuscript, according to The Times, also includes new revelations about other administration officials and what they knew of the scheme to pressure Ukraine, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. CBS News has not seen the manuscript, but two senior administration officials said the White House has been aware of Bolton’s manuscript for weeks.

Bolton’s reported accusations directly contradict the argument put forward by Mr. Trump’s attorneys in his Senate trial, namely that there was no connection between the delay in aid and the president’s requests for investigations. Bolton would be the first official to testify that the president personally connected the two issues.

The president denied Bolton’s account in a late-night tweet, saying he never told Bolton the aid was tied to investigations.

Democrats who have been pushing the Senate to vote to allow witnesses in the president’s trial immediately seized on the report to urge Republican senators to join them in supporting a subpoena for Bolton, who has said he’s willing to testify. A vote on whether to consider new witnesses is likely to come later in the week, after the president’s legal team finishes presenting its arguments and following a period of written questions.

Proceedings will begin at 1 p.m. on Monday with Mr. Trump’s lawyers resuming their presentations.

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