Impeachment Hearings Begin...

[Mystic Wanderer]

As you've probably heard, John Bolton has released a book that claims he had private discussions with the President, and he stated that some of President Trump's statements could be very important for the trial.

President Trump has denied that he told Bolton anything, and whatever he's saying is just to sell books.  I believe I also saw a tweet where A.G. Barr denied the allegations that Bolton spoke with him.

Here is an article to catch you up to speed, in case you don't know.

There may be enough new pressure on Senate Republicans to allow witnesses at President Trump's impeachment trial, after the leak from a forthcoming book by former national security adviser John Bolton that contradicts what the White House has been telling the country.


Why it matters: This is a dramatic, 11th-hour inflection point for the trial, with an eyewitness rebuttal to Trump's claim that he never tied the hold-up of Ukrainian aid to investigations into Joe Biden.

• GOP sources say the revelation could be enough to sway the four Republican senators needed for witnesses — especially since Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah and Susan Collins of Maine have already strongly signaled they’d vote for witnesses.
  
  

What happened: Bolton alleges in his book — "The Room Where It Happened," out March 17 — that Trump explicitly told him "he wanted to continue freezing $391 million in security assistance to Ukraine until officials there helped with investigations into Democrats including the Bidens," the N.Y. Times reported.

• Trump strongly denied Bolton's claims on Twitter early today: "I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. ... If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book."
  

The state of play: Republican sources tell Axios that party leaders and the White House will still try to resist witnesses because, as one top aide put it, "there is a sense in the Senate that if one witness is allowed, the floodgates are open."

• "If [Bolton] says stuff that implicates, say Mick [Mulvaney] or [Mike] Pompeo, then calls for them will intensify," the aide said.
  

What we can expect Trump's defense lawyers to say as they make their case at the trial, beginning at 1 p.m. today and continuing tomorrow:

• They'll say Bolton's account doesn’t change any key facts, and reiterate that the aid, which was only briefly paused, was released without the announcement of any investigations.
  
• They'll emphasize that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said there was no pressure, the call record shows no linkage between the two, and Zelensky got his meeting with Trump at the UN.
  
• They'll also argue that Trump’s concerns about corruption in Ukraine were well-known: He questioned giving aid to the country for a number of reasons, just as he has done with other countries.
  

The intrigue: Bolton submitted the book to the White House on Dec. 30 for a standard prepublication security review for classified information.

• The Times notes: "The submission ... may have given Mr. Trump’s aides and lawyers direct insight into what Mr. Bolton would say if he were called to testify."
  
• "It also intensified concerns among some of his advisers that they needed to block Mr. Bolton from testifying."
  

Between the lines: Trump's defense team has the advantage of being able to do triage at the trial for the next two days, while the House managers listen silently.

• So Dems are making a public case, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer tweeting: "John Bolton has the evidence."
  

Go deeper:

• Bolton alleges in book that Trump tied Ukraine aid to investigations
  
• The daily highlights from Trump's Senate impeachment trial
  

Republicans fear "floodgates" if Bolton testifies



Guess Who Was In Charge Of Reviewing Bolton's Leaked Book At The NSC? 

That would be none other than Yevgeny Vindman, Alexander Vindman's, twin brother.
 
Alexander was the one who insisted on wearing his military uniform into the House Impeachment's hearings, although this has never been allowed in the past from a witness.  I'm sure he thought it would give his testimony more "credibility".  They have to do something to coverup their lies, right?

The identical twin brother of Democratic impeachment witness Alexander Vindman, Yevgeny Vindman, is reportedly in charge of reviewing all publications by current and former officials at the National Security Council (NSC), according to Breitbart News, which would include the recently leaked manuscript of former National Security adviser John Bolton.

The report describes the reviews as a "standard process that allows the NSC to review book manuscripts, op-eds, or any other material for any classified material to be eliminated before publication."

The New York Times reported Sunday evening that Bolton’s draft book manuscript, which had been submitted to the NSC for prepublication review on Dec. 30, alleged that President Trump told Bolton in August 2019 that he wanted to withhold security assistance to Ukraine until it agreed to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, among others.

It was not clear if the Times had seen the Bolton manuscript; its sources were “multiple people” who “described Mr. Bolton’s account of the Ukraine affair.”
Bolton’s lawyer, Chuck Cooper, issued a statement in which he said: “It is clear, regrettably, from The New York Times article published today that the prepublication review process has been corrupted.” He did not confirm or deny the Times‘ reporting on the content of the manuscript. -Breitbart News

There's more if you want to read it. Click the title link above.

Here is another little spin that some of you may find interesting.

Who exactly IS Schummer's wife?  (Someone reported her as his wife, but she could just be a date. I have no source for this.)
I've see the full photo on the right, and 'she' was standing next to Chuck Schummer. 

It seems men in D.C. prefer other men that dress up as women more than REAL women.  

Here is another little tid bit the public might need to know:   

Former White House national security adviser John Bolton pocketed $115,000 from Ukrainian steel oligarch Viktor Pinchuk’s foundation shortly before entering President Donald Trump’s White House as national security adviser, a position first held in the Trump White House by General Michael Flynn.
Bolton’s unpublished manuscript reportedly accuses Trump of wanting to withhold military aid to Ukraine, but Trump denies this had anything to do with a Quid Pro Quo situation.
Democrats are clamoring to call Bolton as a witness in Trump’s Senate impeachment trial regarding his alleged pressuring of the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden’s alleged corruption in the country’s oil and gas industry. Ukraine’s president Zelensky adamantly denies that Trump pressured him.

Well, the timeline of how/when/why the aid was paused has already been established with the President's team of lawyers, but if you want to read the full article, here you go:  Source