Hours after former national security adviser John Bolton said he would testify under subpoena in a Senate impeachment trial, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seized the moment:
Washington Post reporter Rachael Bade described Bolton’s statement, and Pelosi’s response, as representing a “seismic shift in leverage,” as many observers had written off Pelosi’s ability to effectively pressure Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Now, Republican senators facing difficult re-election campaigns won’t just be sticking with their leader if they vote to short-circuit an impeachment trial—they’ll also be explicitly rejecting the testimony of one of the key witnesses to Donald Trump’s extortion efforts against Ukraine. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer quickly hammered that point home in a statement, saying, “It is now up to four Senate Republicans to support bringing in Mr. Bolton.”