As the Senate sits down to go through four hours of debate over hearing witnesses in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, The New York Times has released more information on what’s contained in former national security adviser John Bolton’s upcoming book. That information includes how Donald Trump ordered Bolton to squeeze Ukrainian officials for damaging slander of political opponents two months earlier than was known. Trump ordered Bolton to call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shortly after his election and tell the incoming leader to meet with Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, specifically to orchestrate an announcement of investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden.
And just to cap off a week in which Republican senators admitted that they believe that Trump is guilty but aren’t going to do anything about it, it turns out that one of the conspirators in Trump’s Ukraine scheme has been sitting right on the Senate floor through the entire not-a-trial. Bolton’s book says that White House counsel Pat Cipollone was in the room when Trump gave Bolton his marching orders to extort lies from Zelensky.
Friday, Jan 31, 2020 · 5:44:21 PM +00:00
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Mark Sumner
Donald Trump has made a response to the claim, saying that he “never instructed John Bolton to set up a meeting for Rudy Giuliani” while at the same time calling Giuliani “one of the greatest corruption fighters in America.” He also mentions that the meeting never happened.
Which might be because Bolton says he never made the call Trump demanded.
The Times says that the order from Trump came at a meeting attended by Bolton, Cipollone, and acting chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney. Mulvaney’s involvement in the Ukraine plot has been evident from the beginning, as he directed the withholding of funds from Ukraine through the Office of Management and Budget. Bolton had previously referred to the whole affair as a “drug deal” dreamed up by Mulvaney.
But the claim that Cipollone—officially the lead counsel in Trump’s impeachment defense—was directly involved in the events at the core of the case should be explosive. Cipollone has been standing in front of the Senate denying that there are firsthand witnesses available, when he himself is a firsthand witness. He’s been denying facts of which he is a fact witness.
His direct involvement in the Ukraine plot should be an enormous siren sounding through the Senate proceedings. In legal terms alone, it’s indefensible.
However, since Republicans have already determined that the House team has proved its case, and they’re sticking with the Dershowitz Defense that Trump can do as he pleases … it’s not at all clear that learning that Trump’s lead counsel has been directly, repeatedly lying and covering up information right to the Senate’s face will have even a tiny effect.
