Bolton confirms Trump's treason
The Times got a copy of John Bolton’s book and hoo-boy:
Mr. Bolton’s volume is the first tell-all memoir by such a high-ranking official who participated in major foreign policy events and has a lifetime of conservative credentials. It is a withering portrait of a president ignorant of even basic facts about the world, susceptible to transparent flattery by authoritarian leaders manipulating him and prone to false statements, foul-mouthed eruptions and snap decisions that aides try to manage or reverse.
There are a lot of words in Pete Baker’s piece but an important one is missing: treason. Bolton said Donald Trump was explicit about holding up aid to Ukraine in exchange for that country’s help with the 2020 presidential election.
Trump “said he wasn’t in favor of sending them anything until all the Russia-investigation materials related to Clinton and Biden had been turned over.”
And there’s more. Trump asked China for help too.
Mr. Bolton also recounts a discussion at the Group of 20 summit meeting in Osaka, Japan, last summer at which the president overtly linked policy to his own political fortunes as he asked Mr. Xi to buy a lot of American agricultural products to help him win farm states in this year’s election. Mr. Trump, he writes, was “pleading with Xi to ensure he’d win. He stressed the importance of farmers, and increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat in the electoral outcome.”
When a president sells out his country, when he asks other countries to help win at home, when he holds his interests above the interests of his country—that’s treason.
That’s betray of a highest order. I don’t know why we don’t use that word more often.
Let me know what you think. —John Stoehr
John,
Bolton's book was written with several purposes in mind. First, he wants money. Like many in the Republican party, economic "conservatism" means capitalism first.
Second, he wants to change the subject, meaning his pre-release gaslighting tour is meant to point the blame squarely on Democrats because they "didn't go far enough or deep enough" in the impeachment.
He sat out the impeachment because he misunderstood the current political vibes. He wouldn't voluntarily testify in the House because it's controlled by Democrats. I'm sure he didn't want their questioning to veer into areas he didn't want to attest to (and probably NOT covered in the book).
A court didn't compel him, so he didn't have to, and besides, he'd signaled he'd testify in a Senate trial. That's key. With a Republican-led Senate, Bolton would be assured of political cover and yet, he'd be able "to speak" and therefore make himself look clean, while also promoting his book. That decision in itself is telling.
I suspect Bolton thought this by testifying in the Senate, he would absolve himself of any guilt from being a player in Trump's treason. Sadly, he didn't want to testify and be one of the necessary two witnesses to meet the charge of treason.
However, he misjudged the current climate in today's Senate as controlled by Moscow Mitch. This shows how far out of step he is with current Republican thought. But, since he's not a politician, it doesn't matter much.
Bolton wants to position himself as a Republican purist so when a "real" Republican is in the White House, he will still be a viable political appointee. This is theatre for those power players in the party that despise Trump and Trump's transformation of Republicanism.
This brings me to a third reason. John Bolton is also a narcissist, like Trump. He also believes he's the smartest person in the room. In Bolton's case, he does have education and experience that substantiate his ego. If Trump didn't listen to Bolton, then Bolten's ego would be bruised. Plus, I'm sure he inwardly sneered at the Commander-in-Chief.
John Bolton should not be applauded for writing this book, for revealing more of Trump's misdeeds.
John Bolton should be castigated and shamed for not coming forward during Trump's impeachment. He could have been one of the two witnesses that defined Trump's actions as treasonous. His bona fides would have made his testimony notable, so much so that even some Republicans in the Senate would have had to take notice.
By not testifying, Bolton betrayed his oath of office and betrayed all of America.
I don't care if sales of his book make him a wealthy man. I do care that people across the land perceive Mr. Bolton as a traitor, a man of no honor, who, at one of America's darkest hours, wouldn't put the country above his crass desire for wealth.
And finally, it's my opinion that Bolton felt that by telling the world how stupid and venal Trump is he would vindicate his hawkish views as well as his belief in his own intelligence. It's always zero-sum with him.
Trump is a complete waste of good peoples' oxygen.