On NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) announced House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and committee chairs are considering calling former National Security Adviser John Bolton to testify before Congress about the allegations in his newly released book.
In the interview, Schiff stated, “We will look at what allegations like those involving Turkey and other countries, particularly involving China, need to be fleshed out and exposed to the light of day, and then we’ll make our decisions.”
He continued, “But, you know, we do need, I think, to expose the length and breadth of this president’s depravity and how much it is endangering the country. So those facts are going to need to come out, and we are discussing with the Speaker and my fellow chairs just how to do that.”
Schiff suggested he would not have Bolton wait until after the November election to testify, if lawmakers decide to call him to do so.
“I don’t think we should wait if we conclude that there are important things that he says that need to be exposed to the public. The public needs to know exactly what they have in this president. A lot of it is not a surprise, but at the same time, exposure of this president’s misconduct is the best way to protect the country. Congress can take steps to protect the country,” Schiff added.
Schiff said he has yet to read the forthcoming book, “The Room Where It Happened,” other than the excerpts that have been reported, but expects to do so in the next couple of days. Bolton makes several new allegations against the president in the book, including alleging that Trump solicited Chinese President Xi Jinping’s assistance in winning reelection.
Bolton refused to testify before the House during its impeachment inquiry. Instead, he threatened to join a lawsuit contesting the House Democrats’ subpoenas seeking his associate’s testimony. Schiff said on Sunday that by publishing allegations in the book after refusing to testify during the impeachment probe, “he [Bolton] indicts himself for cowardice and for greed.”
“Because there were people who did come forward, people like Colonel [Alexander] Vindman and Fiona Hill who risked their careers,” Schiff said. “And he lacked that basic courage and patriotism. It was only the greed that made him come forward in this book.”
“What his lawyer was saying at the time was that Bolton might damage the presidency or he might violate his own oath and that’s why he needed to go to court. But apparently those things have given away to a book deal,” Schiff added.
This piece was written by PoliZette Staff on June 23, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.
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