President Donald Trump's long-serving national security adviser, John Bolton, has denounced his presidency as offensive to the US, arguing that the 2020 election is the last "to save the country." Railing ”.
In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Bolton made a brutal indictment of his former employer, saying, "I hope he will be remembered as a one-time president (in history) who threw the country into vague dirt." Not engaging in recalls. We can get more than one word - I have full faith that conservative Republicans may not be elected in November. In two words, I'm more worried about it. "
In an interview with ABC News chief global affairs correspondent Martha Redgett, and in her new book "The Room Where It Happened," Bolton described Trump's decision as "surprising, without notice," and "irrational". Portrayed as incapable of separating his personal. And political interests from the country, and the recognition and manipulation by foreign rivals.
"I don't think he's a conservative Republican. I won't vote for him in November - certainly not vote for Biden. I'm going to find a conservative Republican to vote for," they said. Told Redjut.
That's what Bolton tells critics
Excerpts from the book - June 23 - Since the leak, Bolton has faced criticism from Trump and his allies and critics of Trump for betraying his trust, now out of office against the president, who refused to testify. Before the Home Impeachment Trial and after the silence on Trump in the Senate.
Trump himself accused Bolton of "wacko" and "lied," but accused him of divulging classified information and attacking him personally: "Everyone in the White House hates John Bolton." Those comments contradict Trump's remarks after leaving the Bolton administration a few months ago, telling reporters in November, "I like John Bolton. I'm always with him."
Bolton icted in his interview that Trump's response was "volcanic," that "when faced with criticism, they do not deal with the substance of the criticism. They attack the person who is fully attacked." And the Trump administration is typical. I'm not surprised. "
Bolton said, "The president is not worried about foreign governments reading this book.
When a Bolton book was released, a federal judge ruled Saturday that publishing without official permission from the White House "exposed the harm to his country and exposed himself to civil (and potential criminal) liability."
When Redjet pressed on supporting Trump, Bolton called it a "mistake."
He has been in office for 17 months. "The possibility of turning it into a coherent, rational, systematic, and decisive process for the betterment of American interests has been eliminated. "The stakes are so high. I thought I could continue my contribution."
Bolton did not speak why
He was not silenced by critics as Bolton gave an explanation until his book was ready for release. The last fall of resignation - Trump said he was fired - rejected his request to testify before the House and said he would testify only when asked to follow a subpoena ordered by a judge. The House refused to issue subpoenas to prevent a legal fight. Bolton later said he would follow the subpoena if the Senate passed, but the Republican-controlled Senate did not issue one.
Bolton has now publicly charged in his book that his testimony does not matter, accusing House Democrats of "misconduct," for not taking his time and broadening the scope of his investigation to include investigative crimes.
"I don't think the Democrats have the intelligence or the political know-how, or that they think it is an exercise in raising their own base for change, so they say, 'We blame Donald Trump,'" he said. The behavior is (almost) similar to Trump.
Bolton told Redjut that it was his responsibility to tell the American people what the White House was like and what their leaders were doing.
But the public responsibility they had at the time was how they started the investigation again.
"It's not my responsibility to help the Democrats get out of their problem. I'm ready to testify to my decision. But I think it's a good time to tell the story because now the American people can see it huh." Every four years as a country we make very important political decisions, ”he said.
The Republican-controlled Senate ultimately voted not to call any witnesses to testify at the Trump trial, but Bolton argues it does not matter.
"Minds were built on Capitol Hill, and my feeling was that among all the chaos that was created, it would have come and gone, and no one would notice it," he said.
What Bolton saw in Ukraine
Although congressional Republicans have been silent on Bolton's allegations, it may have been the needle in his account. Bolton, the first witness to come forward, accused his political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, of directly telling Trump that he was tying up the Ukraine investigation with Ukraine, putting $ 400 million in US security. , Who is fighting the Russian. Led separatists in its eastern provinces.
In fact, Bolton's arguments counted many of the legal protections imposed by Trump's lawyers and Republicans, to which Trump has never added scrutiny and assistance, as Trump instead cares to deal with corruption in the country and knows the connection to Ukrainians.
Bolton told ABC News that the president "defended the president, he cares about the general corruption in Ukraine, and that is in his mind - it is completely nonsense." The Ukrainian government "fully understands the connection".
"He bargained to get an investigation, using federal government resources, which bothered me a lot," Bolton said.
He heard this from Trump on August 20, when Trump "directly linked the investigation to the aid clause."
Trump denied this by tweeting in January, "I have never told John Bolton that aid to Ukraine is tied to the investigation of Democrats, including bitcoin."
Bolton said Trump was lying and that this was not the first time.
According to Bolton, the relationship is "widely understood at senior levels of government," including the White House, the State Department, the Pentagon and the Justice Department.
In particular, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defense Secretary Mark Oslo and Attorney General Bill Barr all know and are equally "dangerous," Bolton said, adding that he also asked a White House lawyer. Its legitimacy. And the bar - something the bar's spokesman denied.
Bolton said he was actively working to persuade Trump to isolate aid from any Ukrainian investigation.
"After the impeachment investigation, people thought Pompey and Graf and us should be like Junior Woodcock. FBI agents were looking for evidence of the crimes they were facing. We were getting help. He was released to Ukraine because the US was interested in doing so."
Does Bolton say a disturbing pattern?
Although eventually released to Ukraine, Bolton said that Trump's actions were part of a larger "pattern" of behavior, where he placed his personal relations and political interests above the national security interests of the country.
Bolton told ABC News, "When it comes to reunification, his vision is endless, and his vision is very direct. It's too bad to say no to national security."
He cited specific examples of strong leaders who excelled in the "art of ringing (Trump) hours", including China's Xi Jinping, Russia's Vladimir Putin and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
According to Bolton, Erdogan has asked Trump to intervene on behalf of the Turkish state bank Hubbank, which is facing criminal charges for violating US sanctions on Iran, and said the Erdogan law is a flushing fund for the family.
"And the president at one point said to Erdogan, 'Look, the prosecutors in New York are Obama people. Wait until I get my people together, and then we'll take care of it.'
Bolton said, "I've never heard a president say something like that." "It seemed to me like obstructing justice."
After a negotiated settlement on what Erdogan said, Hulkbank was given the final fall signal for fraud, money laundering and breach of sanctions.
While some critics allege that Bolton's stories hurt Trump's position on the world stage, Bolton fired back, saying that "he has already told Vladimir Putin nothing he does not know - and that gives the American public something to be told."
"The North Koreans, perhaps with Iran, and even China and Russia, think that if they can separate Trump from their advisers, they can make a deal with him. ... They see him as an actual unknown. The trade-offs he makes," Bolton said.
Bolton says Trump is like that
According to Bolton, a deal that can ignite his image as a contract maker and support his reunion is dangerous.
"There is really no guiding principle I can understand except what is good for Donald Trump's reunion," Bolton told Redz. "There is no consistent basis, no strategy, no philosophy and decisions are taken in a very scattered shot manner, especially in the deadly area of national security policy. It is a threat to the Republic." "
In addition to his criticism of Trump's foreign policy or philosophy, Bolton has targeted the man himself for making Trump's decision: "The president's policy is never an accident. I mean, it's like a random walk Groundhog Day."
"I can't tell you from day one what's going on at the White House," he called the president "surprisingly unheard of" and added, "It is difficult during periods of continuous conversations about policy development."
According to Bolton, the words Trump heard during his intelligence briefing were much shorter than those of other presidents. Bolton said he had heard the words of anonymous advisers who described Bolton as "inaccurate" information that had not been compiled by professional staff, and that he could not understand bits of history. Most of them are not moving forward.
"It is one thing to be uncertain and abrupt and episodic and chronic on a daily basis. When you get into a crisis situation or a very high profile situation, it is not only important, but dangerous for the president.
Redz emphasizes Bolton's characterization, portraying Trump's past as a dealmaker with his "amazing" ability to "shape" opponents.
Bolton said he did not "particularly" believe at the time, but said he had to defend the president and was "a triumph of hope over the limited experience of the time."
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