President Trump’s legal counsel Jay Sekulow dismissed the contents of John Bolton’s upcoming book as irrelevant to the ongoing impeachment proceedings against President Trump during his closing argument Tuesday.
“You can't impeach the president on an unsourced allegation,” Sekulow said during a session of the Senate impeachment trial. Sekulow then proceeded to read President Trump’s denial of Bolton’s reported allegation.
“That was what was said in response to an unpublished manuscript, that maybe some reporters have an idea of, maybe, what it says,” Sekulow told lawmakers. “If you want to call that evidence, I don't know what you'd call that. I'd call it inadmissible. But that's what it is.”
“To have a removal of a president based on a policy dispute? That's not what the framers intended,” Sekulow continued.
The New York Times reported Sunday that Bolton’s upcoming book “In The Room” reveals that the former national security adviser personally witnessed Trump tie Ukrainian military aid to the opening of politically beneficial investigations. The allegations roiled Senate Republicans and prompted rampant speculation that some of them would vote with Democrats to subpoena witnesses and documents once the opening hearings for the trial have concluded.
On Tuesday Senator Ron Johnson (R., Wisc.) called on Bolton to speak directly to the media regarding information pertinent to the trial.
“Now that what has unfolded with the manuscript [of Bolton's book] being leaked — by the way, exquisite timing, maybe suspicious timing — the Wall Street Journal has called for John to just come forward," Johnson said on Capitol Hill. "I think that would actually be a smart thing. I'd encourage John to do that.”
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