House Democrats have been reluctant to call former national security adviser John Bolton to testify in recent weeks, but that may be changing. Bolton wrote in his forthcoming book that Donald Trump explicitly told him that the hold on military aid to Ukraine was connected to Trump’s push for Ukraine to investigate his political opponents, but most Senate Republicans sound as committed as ever to covering up for Trump.
The House Intelligence Committee had asked Bolton to testify in November, but after he refused to do so without a court battle and the House sent impeachment articles to the Senate, House Democrats argued that the question of Bolton’s testimony was now in the Senate’s hands for the impeachment trial of Donald Trump. Now, though, Mother Jones reports that “several House Democrats on Monday initiated talks within their caucus about taking the dramatic step of subpoenaing him or once again requesting that he testify before a House committee, according to multiple Democratic sources.”
Adam Schiff, the House Intelligence Committee chair and lead House impeachment trial manager, continues to be opposed to subpoenaing Bolton, not wanting Senate Republicans to use “but the House” as an excuse for not voting to have Bolton as an impeachment trial witness. What if (when) Senate Republicans push through their cover-up, though? Are House Democrats just going to leave Bolton’s likely testimony dangling?