John Bolton made a tragic mistake. It’s not the one you might think.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/14/john-bolton-made-tragic-mistake-its-not-one-you-might-think/
"Bolton also didn’t hold back to help Trump, or to spite Democrats. Bolton obviously holds Trump in utmost contempt, and left any bridge to the administration in ruins when he departed last fall. He had every reason to tell his story, as he’s doing now. And had Bolton’s testimony led to a Senate conviction, the result, of course, would have been … President Pence. Republicans would have been better off.
Nor did fear of legal consequences keep Bolton mute. He obviously doesn’t think that Trump has any power to keep him from telling his story, under oath or otherwise; he’s publishing his book even though he hasn’t received clearance from the government. That means he doesn’t think anything he has to say is legitimately classified or subject to executive privilege, which in turn means he could have testified to it all six months ago. And even if he left some classified details out of the book, he could have testified about them behind closed doors.
[snip]
The only way to make sense of Bolton’s behavior is to recognize that he actually did intend and expect to testify. He wanted to testify, but wanted to appear to be forced to do it. Perhaps he thought that, as a reluctant witness, he’d be less open to being caricatured as a disgruntled, discharged adviser, and his credibility would have been enhanced. So he insisted on a court order to appear before the House.
When that didn’t happen, Bolton began virtually begging to testify: He announced before the Senate trial commenced that “if the Senate issues a subpoena for my testimony, I am prepared to testify” without any court order at all. During the trial, perhaps not serendipitously, word leaked about how Bolton’s book would establish a quid pro quo linking Ukraine security assistance to Ukraine helping to smear former vice president Joe Biden — and about how Bolton hoped to testify.
But Bolton made one fateful misjudgment. He overestimated the character, honor and patriotism of Senate Republicans. It would have taken just four, joining with Democrats, for the Senate to have issued a subpoena. But only two voted to hear Bolton testify. A Yale-educated lawyer, Bolton perhaps calculated that Senate Republicans would live up to their oaths of office, and to the separate impeachment-trial oath they took to do “impartial justice.” He assumed they would uphold the Constitution. Sadly, he was wrong."
Bolton is not a good guy, but I think some people here are going a little overboard on demonizing him. After all, the enemy of our enemy and all. He could be helpful in the days to come. I would like to see what he has to say before cutting him off at the knees.
= new reply since forum marked as read
