WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's former national security adviser says Trump wanted to maintain a freeze on military assistance to Ukraine until it launched political investigations into his Democratic rivals. That's according to a report by The New York Times citing drafts of a forthcoming book by former national security adviser John Bolton.
The revelation challenges the defense offered up by Trump and his attorneys in his Senate impeachment trial, and it raises the stakes as the Senate decides this week whether to seek sworn testimony from Bolton and other witnesses.
The Associated Press has not confirmed the content of Bolton’s draft book. A person familiar with the matter told the AP the book had been submitted to the White House for pre-publication review, which is standard for the work of former officials with security clearances. The person insisted on anonymity to discuss the sensitive subject.
Trump on Wednesday told reporters in Davos, Switzerland, that he didn’t want Bolton to testify before the Senate.
“The problem with John is it’s a national security problem,” Trump said. “He knows some of my thoughts. He knows what I think about leaders. What happens if he reveals what I think about a certain leader and it’s not very positive and then I have to deal on behalf of the country?”
He added: “It’s going to be very hard. It’s going to make the job very hard.”
