John Bolton rats out Trump
joker44
In the wind
Here are 7 stunning details from a new report about John Bolton’s explosive book
Though the Trump administration is making a show of trying to stop it, former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s book is already making waves.
The New York Times, which received an advance copy of the book before its official publication next week, published a report on Wednesday laying out some of its key revelations.
While Bolton himself is in many ways a duplicitous and untrustworthy figure, his allegations about President Donald Trump are worth taking seriously. We’ve already seen that much of what is going on behind closed doors is nefarious and detrimental to the country — and a person with Bolton’s access would likely know many of the White House’s darkest secrets.
Here are 7 stunning details from the report:
1. Bolton confirms that Trump’s infamous Ukraine quid pro quo was explicit
The book confirms House testimony that Mr. Bolton was wary all along of the president’s actions with regard to Ukraine and that Mr. Trump explicitly linked the security aid to investigations involving Mr. Biden and Hillary Clinton. On Aug. 20, Mr. Bolton writes, Mr. 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.” Mr. Bolton writes that he, Mr. Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper tried eight to 10 times to get Mr. Trump to release the aid.
2. Bolton says that similar incidents occurred with Turkey and China
“The pattern looked like obstruction of justice as a way of life, which we couldn’t accept,” Bolton wrote.
He blames the Democrats for impeaching Trump on grounds that were far too narrow and solely focused on Ukraine, but this complaint is deeply ironic given Bolton’s refusal to testify.
3. Trump tried to get China to help him win re-election, the book claims
Bolton wrote that “the president overtly linked policy to his own political fortunes as he asked [Chinese President] 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.’”
4. Trump reportedly did not know Britain is a nuclear power
This is a basic fact about world politics, and yet the president seems to have no clue what’s going on.
5. Trump reportedly asked if Finland is a part of Russia
The report doesn’t say who Trump asked. Hopefully, it wasn’t the Finns. Or the Russians.
6. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly dismissed Trump’s overtures to North Korea as useless
During Mr. Trump’s 2018 meeting with North Korea’s leader, according to the book, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo slipped Mr. Bolton a note disparaging the president, saying, “He is so full of shit.”
A month later, Mr. Bolton writes, Mr. Pompeo dismissed the president’s North Korea diplomacy, declaring that there was “zero probability of success.”
7. Bolton says he reported cases of Trump’s potential abuses of power to Attorney General Bill Barr
It’s not clear if anything ever came of these reports.
Though the Trump administration is making a show of trying to stop it, former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s book is already making waves.
The New York Times, which received an advance copy of the book before its official publication next week, published a report on Wednesday laying out some of its key revelations.
While Bolton himself is in many ways a duplicitous and untrustworthy figure, his allegations about President Donald Trump are worth taking seriously. We’ve already seen that much of what is going on behind closed doors is nefarious and detrimental to the country — and a person with Bolton’s access would likely know many of the White House’s darkest secrets.
Here are 7 stunning details from the report:
1. Bolton confirms that Trump’s infamous Ukraine quid pro quo was explicit
The book confirms House testimony that Mr. Bolton was wary all along of the president’s actions with regard to Ukraine and that Mr. Trump explicitly linked the security aid to investigations involving Mr. Biden and Hillary Clinton. On Aug. 20, Mr. Bolton writes, Mr. 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.” Mr. Bolton writes that he, Mr. Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper tried eight to 10 times to get Mr. Trump to release the aid.
2. Bolton says that similar incidents occurred with Turkey and China
“The pattern looked like obstruction of justice as a way of life, which we couldn’t accept,” Bolton wrote.
He blames the Democrats for impeaching Trump on grounds that were far too narrow and solely focused on Ukraine, but this complaint is deeply ironic given Bolton’s refusal to testify.
3. Trump tried to get China to help him win re-election, the book claims
Bolton wrote that “the president overtly linked policy to his own political fortunes as he asked [Chinese President] 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.’”
4. Trump reportedly did not know Britain is a nuclear power
This is a basic fact about world politics, and yet the president seems to have no clue what’s going on.
5. Trump reportedly asked if Finland is a part of Russia
The report doesn’t say who Trump asked. Hopefully, it wasn’t the Finns. Or the Russians.
6. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly dismissed Trump’s overtures to North Korea as useless
During Mr. Trump’s 2018 meeting with North Korea’s leader, according to the book, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo slipped Mr. Bolton a note disparaging the president, saying, “He is so full of shit.”
A month later, Mr. Bolton writes, Mr. Pompeo dismissed the president’s North Korea diplomacy, declaring that there was “zero probability of success.”
7. Bolton says he reported cases of Trump’s potential abuses of power to Attorney General Bill Barr
It’s not clear if anything ever came of these reports.
Got something to say?
Start your own discussion
43 comments
Coward and a Traitor.
Why is this even a topic?
2. Democracies like Turkey and China would never conspire to fix an election.
3. China did not return Trump's calls as it was busy working on some top-secret virus.
4.. How can a country with lousy food and people with bad teeth be a nuclear power? Fake news.
5. Finland might as well be a part of Russia, for all the good it's ever done.
6. Useless? The guests at the soon-to-be opened Trump Tower North Korea would disagree.
7. Bill Barr never received any such reports, but he did say his new shredder works splendidly.
I don't always drink vokda, but when I do ...
https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresti…
If you're bad enough John Bolton turns on you, you're awful.
We all smell the blood in the water. Republicans are going to soon be fighting over who is next. If the Dems take the Senate, the sad turtle McConnell is probably done for good as majority leader. Will it be Mittens? the zodiac killer? Someone new?
“Whether or not one is surprised by what Bolton reports, no one should really doubt the truth of it,” wrote Kristol. “I have no doubt that Bolton is telling the truth. Not simply because of my two, as it were, generally corroborating sources. But because I’ve known John Bolton a long time, and John Bolton is an honest man. He tells the truth. Full stop.”
“John Bolton is neither a liar nor a fantasist. John Bolton may not be the epitome of warmth, humor, or even kindness. But he is honest,” wrote Kristol. “Nor is he the type to get confused. He is a meticulous note-taker. When we read Bolton’s book, we will almost certainly be reading the nearest thing to the truth about the Trump administration that we’re likely to get before historians have a chance to get inside the administration’s archives.”
Personally, I wouldn't bet the house on Kristol's word but it is interesting nevertheless
The reason? Because Alexander already believed Trump was abusing his office this way — he just didn’t care.:
After Bolton book revelation, @SenAlexander—key R vote—tells me he’s not rethinking his choice to block witnesses: “Did I need any more evidence to be convinced that President Trump did what he was accused of doing? I said he did it. I was convinced.” https://t.co/xEOmPlVXUc
— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) June 17, 2020
"Twitter users are still furious at Bolton for refusing to step forward and do the right thing during the impeachment trial or the House hearings leading up to the impeachment vote.
----------------
So Bolton sat in on several instances where Donald Trump betrayed the country and/or broke the law and his reaction was to save it all for his book?
Patriotism, GOP style.
— Annie Gabston-Howell-
Let us not forget that Bolton could have walked up to a microphone on ANY DAY BACK THEN and said: "If asked, here is what I will confirm under oath." He refused to appear voluntarily before the House, but wanted the Senate to compel him. Too clever a game, and here we are now. https://t.co/wpVLELUIOk
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) June 17, 2020
@JohnCornyn @tedcruz @chiproytx @GregAbbott_TX you breaking with the traitor yet or are you going to say Bolton is lying? #GOPCorruptionOverCountry #GOPCowards #GOPComplicit https://t.co/nbyamf5n1V
— Cobra DMD (@CobraDmd) June 17, 2020
Bolton’s staff were asked to testify before the House to Trump’s abuses, and did. They had a lot to lose and showed real courage.
When Bolton was asked, he refused, and said he’d sue if subpoenaed. Instead, he saved it for a book.
Bolton may be an author, but he’s no patriot.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) June 17, 2020
Throw shit at the Constitution on the wall and see if it sticks.
----------
The details are not all that stunning. We already knew that about the quid pro quo with Ukraine and the stuff about Finland and Britain confirms what we already know -- that the president is a buffoon and an imbecile. It's simple: Bolton could have testified to the House under oath. But instead, he waited for a book deal and a few million bucks. Yes, what a hero.
@Mark94- Do you stimulate your geriatric asshole while you're watching Laura Ingraham all day long? SHe's 56-yrs-old and must be a hottie to someone in your age group.
Note: Trump sued to keep the book from being published because it violated an NDA. This isn’t some threat to national security like they were trying to say. Now that it’s out, will Trump point to anything specifically and say it’s classified? Call me out on this in a month, but my prediction is you’ll hear crickets. The book is embarrassing to Trump. That’s it.
Lastly, watch Trump’s denials. He will not point to anything specific and say it’s wrong. He will instead offer general denials like “Bolton is a liar” and “he’s disgruntled so you shouldn’t believe him.” He’s already started. He won’t deny anything specifically upon which he might be proven wrong. His staff may do it, but he won’t. He did this with Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal. I never saw Trump quoted as denying those affairs. Just calling them liars. Though his staff denied the affairs.
This is your president.
Don't bother trying to reason with an Orange Lover. Their master could cornhole their granny on Fifth Ave. and all they'd do is ask if he needs more lube.
@Mark94- Do you stimulate your geriatric asshole while you're watching Laura Ingraham all day long? SHe's 56-yrs-old and must be a hottie to someone in your age group.
I wouldn't fuck that bitch with Sarah Huckabee Sanders' dick.
@tahoecruz What condescending name Turnip will come up with for Bolton as he has his other detractors? It would be funny if people were not dying in the streets, in hospitals, and in Mexico on the floors of their cages. And his supporters cheer him on. Baffling.
Not really baffling. Orange lovers fall into one or more of these categories: 1. Flaming racists, 2. Mind-numbingly ignorant and uneducated, 3. Scared of their own shadow. But more of the blame goes to the Republicans who either support him or are too scared to speak out against him, fearing he'll go on a Twitter rant and destroy their careers. It's a shame that none of them have a set of ball or a pair of ovaries. Take Ted Cruz, for example. Trump calls his wife ugly and says his dad conspired to kill JFK. Instead of blasting Trump, Cruz does nothing but massage the president's tiny nutsack.
As we all know, politics have become very divisive in the last couple of decades - many conservatives feel under attack and they often feel no choice but to get behind any Republican no matter who it is bc they feel a Democratic alternative is orders of magnitude worse (also applies to hardcore Dems).
For many, Trump is far from the ideal Republican/conservative but "he's the best choice given the alternative".
I'm wondering how the current protests will play out w.r.t. Trump's reelection w.r.t. voters that are in the middle:
a) those in the middle fear/disagree with many of the protests side-effects and will thus lean Trump where they might have not?
b) those in the middle wanna be woke and feel Trump and everything he stands for must go?
And it is likely that two weeks from tomorrow his heard will be thinning. Apparently they are already lining up for his rally. You can't fix stupid.
Pennsylvania has 20. Results for that state were Hillary 2,926,441 (47.46%) Trump 2,970,733 (48.18%) and Jill Stein 49,941.
Wisconsin has 10. Results Hillary 1,382,536 (46.45%) Trump 1,405,284 (47.22%) and Jill Stein 31,072.
Michigan has 16. Hillary 2,268,839 (47.27%) Trump 2,279,543 (47.50%) and Jill Stein 51,463.
So, in Pennsylvania out of 5,897,174 cast he won by 44,292.
In Wisconsin, 22,748 votes out of 2,787,820 and in Michigan 10,704 out of 4,548,382
Less than 1% in each state. Total of less than 100,000 people out of 12 million (and only 1/2 plus 1 need to change their mind).
Not only did he tell Michigan they can go fuck themselves last month when their Governor complained about lack of federal assistance for the pandemic (6000 dead, top 5 impacted states).
BUT, each of these states was won by a margin less than Jill Stein's vote total. And I haven't seen Russian state media pushing any 3rd party greeny spoilers yet this year on RT (Russia Today's English cable news) and sputnik.com (because ya, those photos of Mike Flynn at the dinner table with Putin for RT's anniversary party, that was Jill Stein sitting on the other side of Putin)...
So, I think Trump's going to have a greater challenge this year, and there's not much of a margin for him to loose any support he had last time.
(oh, and this year, Bernie looks like he's on board with campaigning for Biden)
This is a disaster in the making. If Oklahoma experiences the kind of spikes we've seen in Florida and it's traced back to this neo-nazi rally, I'm sure that'll look good on Trump. Frankly, I'm shocked this fat 74-year-old pile of excrement hasn't caught it yet.