Question Everything! |
The former adviser repeatedly warned BBC Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis to “let me finish” as she tried to question him.
By Sara C Nelson
October 29, 2020 "Information Clearing House" - BBC Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis found herself in a tense on-air clash with Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton last night.
An agitated Bolton repeatedly told Maitlis to “let me finish” as he answered her questions about why he did not appear at President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.
She told him: “You were given the chance to testify at his impeachment.”
“You were begged to do your duty as a citizen. You refused to tell the American people what you saw and what you knew.”@maitlis presses Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser John Bolton over his refusal to voluntarily testify at the Trump
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) October 27, 2020
impeachment trial#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/h1p28XliEI
No Advertising - No Government Grants - No Algorithm - This Is Independent Media
But Bolton replied: “You’re absolutely wrong about that. There’s a history here that I’d be delighted to lay out although I’m sure you won’t broadcast it here because it’s too complicated.”
“I was worried about him endangering American security,” he said.
“That’s why I tried to move his policies in better directions and why, ultimately, when I concluded I couldn’t do that, I resigned.”
He then continued to admonish Maitlis, telling her: “Will you let me finish? Will you let me finish my answer?” – before explaining: “The House of Representatives never issued a subpoena for me.
“And when they issued a subpoena for my former deputy, the White House ordered him not to testify.”
Bolton refused to give evidence in the impeachment inquiry, with some opponents claiming he instead saved his information for a tell-all book that was published in June – despite efforts by the U.S. Justice Department to block its release.
The book, which details Bolton’s 17 months as Trump’s national security adviser, contains descriptions of conversations with foreign leaders that could be seen as politically damaging to the president.
Those include accounts that Trump tied military aid for Ukraine to that country’s willingness to conduct investigations into Democratic rival Joe Biden and Biden’s son Hunter, and that Trump asked China’s President Xi Jinping to help his re-election prospects.
- "Source" -