EXCLUSIVE: John Bolton, Pres. Trump's longest-serving national security adviser, condemns Trump's presidency as dangerously damaging to the U.S.—and warns the 2020 election is the last 'guardrail' to protect the country from him.
"stunningly uninformed," making"erratic" and"irrational" decisions, unable to separate his personal and political interests from the country's, and marked and manipulated by foreign adversaries.
Trump himself has blasted Bolton as a"wacko" and"liar," while accusing him of revealing classified information and attacking him personally:"Everybody in the White House hated John Bolton." Those comments contradict what Trump said just months ago after Bolton left the administration, telling reporters in November,"I like John Bolton. I always got along with him.
Bolton now said his testimony wouldn't have mattered, while also accusing House Democrats of"impeachment malpractice" for not taking their time and widening their inquiry's scope to include potentially impeachable offenses that Bolton only alleges publicly for the first time in his book. The Republican-controlled Senate ultimately voted not to call any witnesses to testify in Trump's trial, but Bolton now argues it wouldn't have made a difference.
"The defense of the president was, he cares about the general corruption in the Ukraine, and that was on his mind -- that's utter nonsense," Bolton told ABC News, adding the Ukrainian government"fully understood" the connection. Bolton said they all were actively working to convince Trump to separate the aid from any Ukrainian probe.
He cited specific examples of strongmen leaders who had"mastered the art of ringing bells," including Xi Jinping of China, Vladimir Putin of Russia, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. Whatever was said to Erdogan, Halkbank was indicted last fall for fraud, money laundering, and sanctions violations after a negotiated settlement fell apart.While some critics have charged that Bolton's stories will weaken Trump's position on the world stage, Bolton shot back he's"not telling Vladimir Putin anything that he doesn't already know -- and it's telling the American people something they may not be aware of.
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