Schiff blasts Bolton for not testifying after release of excerpts

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said former White House national security adviser John Bolton “may be an author, but he’s no patriot” after excerpts from his book claim that House Democrats committed “impeachment malpractice” in limiting their inquiry to Ukraine. 

“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,” Schiff tweeted. “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,” the House Intelligence Committee chairman and manager of the House impeachment effort concluded.

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

An early copy of the book, which is set to be released Tuesday, was obtained by The New York Times and The Washington Post. The newspapers published excerpts Wednesday. 

Schiff subpoenaed Bolton during the House impeachment hearings, which looked into whether President Trump threatened to withhold military assistance to Ukraine in exchange for an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden.

Bolton declined to testify during the impeachment inquiry last fall on instructions from the White House but said he would do so pursuant to a subpoena if a court weighed in on the issue. He had been ousted by Trump months earlier, in September, after the whistleblower complaint was made. 

In the book, Bolton claims that Trump also asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to buy large amounts of agricultural products to improve his reelection prospects in agricultural states.

“I am hard-pressed to identify any significant Trump decision during my tenure that wasn’t driven by reelection calculations,” Bolton wrote, according to the Post.

“Had the House not focused solely on the Ukraine aspects of Trump’s confusion of his personal interests there might have been a greater chance to persuade others that ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’ had been perpetrated,” Bolton added.

Trump was eventually acquitted this year during the Senate impeachment trial, where Schiff served as the lead impeachment manager.