# The Trump Impeachment Trial
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Created:** [January 16, 2020, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524 "2020-01-16T20:12:52Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 18
### Author:  [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/341 "2020-01-27T00:53:27Z")
Ut-oh. A little [Bolton shot across the bow](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-impeachment-bolton/trump-told-bolton-he-wanted-to-hold-ukraine-aid-pending-help-on-biden-probe-nytimes-idUSKBN1ZP0VD?il=0):
> [@](#):
>
> President Donald Trump told his then-national security adviser in August that he wanted to continue freezing $391 million in security aid to Ukraine until officials there helped with investigations into Democrats, including presidential rival Joe Biden, the New York Times reported on Sunday.
>
> Trump’s statement was described by former White House national security adviser John Bolton in an unpublished manuscript by the conservative Republican foreign policy specialist, the newspaper reported, citing a description of the text from multiple people.
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/342 "2020-01-27T00:59:40Z")
all of a sudden Dems are fans of Bolton. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/343 "2020-01-27T01:08:16Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#):
>
> all of a sudden Dems are fans of Bolton. 🙂
He’s a vicious, rabid warmonger. But he’s not as near as I can tell a pathological liar. And that’s propelling him to the top of the Republican shitheap.
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### Author:  [@MulderMuffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MulderMuffin)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/344 "2020-01-27T01:21:55Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#):
>
> all of a sudden Dems are fans of Bolton. 🙂
Nothing wrong with the loyal opposition. It’s just the psychopathic, lying, racist shitheel and his enablers I’m not a fan of. If the Senate refuses to call Bolton, I hope he immediately goes on CNN, MSNBC, BBC, ABC, and yes, even FOX immediately to tell everything he knows before they wrap up the official cover-up. If he’s worried about his book contract, I’m sure there’s a billionaire or two who would gladly make him whole.
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/345 "2020-01-27T01:22:57Z")
For Bolton I guess the enemy of my enemy is my friend .
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### Author:  [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/346 "2020-01-27T01:49:05Z")
So Bolton has confirmed what everybody already knew. But (a) will he testify and (b) would it matter if he did?
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### Author:  [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/347 "2020-01-27T01:53:04Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#):
>
> ETA: The Greater Good is in danger of dying off and being replaced by My Own Good. IMO, It’s gonna be even harder to switch it back around again, if we so choose.
There are fewer of the My Own Good advocates, but they have a power advantage, now, over the Greater Good side. And there’s no USA to come over to beat back the fascist MOG threat.
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### Author:  [@MulderMuffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MulderMuffin)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/348 "2020-01-27T02:08:34Z")
Bolton basically verified the reporting about his book containing information about Trump saying he was specifically holding aid to Ukraine in exchange for announcing investigations into the Bidens. He disputed that he himself leaked the information in advance id his book coming out, but:
> [@](#):
>
> Additionally, Bolton’s representatives made clear he was not denying the Times’ claim concerning the Ukraine aid holdup and the possible investigation of the Bidens.
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/349 "2020-01-27T02:45:49Z")
GOP will just say Bolton is a liar , stupid, hates Trump because he was fired, etc. Won’t matter what he says.
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### Author:  [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/350 "2020-01-27T03:27:02Z")
Think about how low we all regard the GOP at this point. We aren’t hoping that there are 20 of them who are patriotic enough to remove Trump from office. We are hoping that there are four of them who are willing to allow evidence to support that removal even be heard. And they’re still likely to come up short.
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### Author:  [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/351 "2020-01-27T03:44:53Z")
Bolton will be talking about other peoples behavior too, Mulvaney, Perry, etc. We’ll see how smart Nancy Pelosi was when the chief justice says you need to hear from them too.
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### Author:  [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/352 "2020-01-27T03:45:15Z")
They won’t get 4 , maybe they get Romney.
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### Author:  [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/353 "2020-01-27T03:57:30Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#):
>
> all of a sudden Dems are fans of Bolton. 🙂
Not me. I just found it interesting that this got leaked when it did.
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#):
>
> He’s a vicious, rabid warmonger. But he’s not as near as I can tell a pathological liar. And that’s propelling him to the top of the Republican shitheap.
^ This.
> [@jsc1953](#):
>
> So Bolton has confirmed what everybody already knew. But (a) will he testify and (b) would it matter if he did?
He kind of has to testify to it if he wants to publish it in his book later on. As to whether it will matter, probably not to the MAGA crowd, but maybe to the 10-15% of those whose minds are (incredibly) not yet made up.
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### Author:  [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/354 "2020-01-27T05:05:51Z")
> [@septimus](#):
>
> Incidentally, I clicked to [predictit.org](http://predictit.org) 20 times and got “The connection has timed out” 20 times. IIRC I got the same when I attempted to click there months ago. Normal?
Tracert also fails after 30 hops, although it has lots of successful hops on the way, including 11 hops to …atlas.cogentco.com. I’ll PM these results to anyone interested.
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### Author:  [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/355 "2020-01-27T05:09:14Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#):
>
> Not me. I just found it interesting that this got leaked when it did.
Exactly this. I’d wondered in this or another thread why we weren’t seeing more strategic leaks from Bolton’s camp if he really wanted to testify. This leak seems like just that: strategic. I don’t know what is Bolton’s angle, but he’s angling. Could be book sales, could be something else.
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### Author:  [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/356 "2020-01-27T05:22:19Z")
If I were Bolton I would be worrying about how to “land the plane” amidst this.
If that’s true he probably wants to be forced to testify. If he doesn’t testify then he will look like a traitor, given the story he has to tell. And square the effect of that if he is selling his story to be timed after the trial.
As far as testifying voluntarily: he might not want to be the guy to bring down the potus. It would change the book he’s writing for sure. He might not want to write a tell all from the person who sunk his and the republicans hold on power forever, and it might be that by default.
I predict he pitches a fit and melts down over the fact that he, a white rebupki, can’t turn this thing into a total grift for himself, and remain above the fray.
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/357 "2020-01-27T10:24:21Z")
The tough part is going to be the gloating. Even if this thing winds up with ninety percent of the American public eager to tar and feather every Republican we can get our hands on …he’s going to gloat. He’s a ham-fisted bully who thinks he’s a genius of subtle cunning. Given every advantage money and power have to offer, he will _still_ fuck it up. Keep an eye on his shovel, if it looks like its getting worn out, give him a new one.
Right now, roughly seventy percent of American voters want more witnesses. They are not going to get them, and Il Douche is going to sneer and gloat. Thank you, Jesus.
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### Author:  [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/358 "2020-01-27T12:51:37Z")
I heard that Bolton had given a copy of the book to the White House. If that is true, then I think that someone in the White House leaked what came out yesterday. They see that the fucker is going to walk and they fired one last shot to stop that from happening.
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### Author:  [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/359 "2020-01-27T12:57:06Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#):
>
> They won’t get 4 , maybe they get Romney.
The best strategy at this point would be to appeal to Roberts. If we could get a bunch of big rallies around the US, I think he’d call witnesses in light of these new Bolton allegations.
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [January 27, 2020, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-trump-impeachment-trial/846524/360 "2020-01-27T13:24:28Z")
> [@KidCharlemagne](#):
>
> The best strategy at this point would be to appeal to Roberts. If we could get a bunch of big rallies around the US, I think he’d call witnesses in light of these new Bolton allegations.
Roberts will never insert himself into struggle between Republicans and Democrats. He is a ceremonial figurehead at best.
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