Schiff: Trump and allies want to suppress Bolton testimony because they are "deathly afraid"
Asked
about GOP Rep. Mark Meadows’s suggestion that the New York Times story
on John Bolton was a coordinated leak from Democrats and if he was in
any way involved in the leak, House impeachment manager Rep. Adam Schiff
said he was not.
“Of course not,” Schiff said, “It came as quite a surprise to all the House managers when the New York Times story came out, but I guess that’s the best Representative Meadows has right now. Look I can understand the reasons why — and I think we knew these already — why the President and his allies have wanted to suppress John Bolton’s testimony. They evidentially had this manuscript, they understood what John Bolton had to say and they were deathly afraid the American people would find out."
Schiff continued:
"There seems to be a real shift in where the Republican senators are
and I think it’s very hard for them to maintain that they wanted a fair
trial, wanted to know all the facts when there’s a witness who said I’m
ready, I’ve got something to say, we have an outline of what he has to
say, it’s really hard to say we’re not going to hear that.”
Top House Democrat says they would consider bringing in Bolton if Senate doesn’t
Asked
if the House would reconsider bringing in former White House national
security adviser John Bolton if the Senate decides not call trial
witnesses, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said they would consider
it, but he wouldn’t speculate beyond that.
“We'd certainly consider what action we would take. I don't know, I don't want to speak of what action we would take," he said.
The Senate is back in session
The Senate impeachment trial has resumed.
Robert Ray, a member of President Trump's defense team, is delivering his opening arguments right now.
Trump ally suggests Bolton manuscript was leaked to convince GOP senators to call witnesses
Rep. Mark Meadows, a Republican from North Carolina and a stark defender of the President, suggested today that the John Bolton manuscript was leaked to convince GOP senators to vote for witnesses. He also said he's not in favor of calling additional witnesses.
"Why was this leaked out at this particular time right before today's presentation by the Trump defense team? I know I'm asking that. Some have suggested that it was to sell more books. Some have suggested that indeed the leak was designed to create chaos. What we do know is that this is a pattern that my Democrat colleagues have embarked on when it was over in the House, and they continue to leak out things trying to change the narrative so that you will write about it, so that the American people can get all worried about it, only to find out the facts later don't necessarily support the accusations that were made," he said.
Meadows continued:
"My Republican colleagues in the Senate are going to make up their own
minds on whether or not to call witnesses, but this leak was designed
for one purpose and one purpose only, and that was to try to manipulate
the thinking of my Republican colleagues in the Senate to encourage them
to open it up and provide for more witnesses," he said.
"I'm not in favor of calling additional witnesses," he added.
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