TRANSCRIPT: John Bolton interview with ABC News' Martha Raddatz

By artappraiser on Sun, 06/21/2020 - 10:41pm |

He basically answers everything I'd ask him. It's quite interesting, especially his reasons for not voluntarily testifying to the House. I don't see any caginess along the lines of "you'll have to read the book." He answers everything asked completely. He does seem to care very much that the American people know these things about Trump.

Transcript of @AmbJohnBolton interview: https://t.co/Yqgu3s7faJ
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) June 22, 2020

URL:

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/transcript-john-bolton-interview-abc-news-martha-raddatz/story?id=71287825

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Fucking asshole. His job was not to micromanage the impeachment effort. It was to get on the stand and tell the truth. The guy's So full if his own shit he can hardly stand straight. The Demicrats chose a strategy based on what they thought they could get through in a tunely, convincing manner despite Repoublican cokousion, hush-hush, lies, And other instructions - including Bolton's. Every GOP agent And felliw-traveler Is playing his or her own long game - in defiance of the Constitution. Yeah, I'd be happy fór Bolton to get an espionage conviction now that his book's out, except it would still send the wrong message to real whistleblowers And ex-office holders who simply shed light on government.

Well this is awful. https://t.co/3ZCzWRp4su
— National Security Counselors (@NatlSecCnslrs) June 21, 2020

by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 06/22/2020 - 1:22am

I think better than silence (certainly better than like, Rex Tillerson.)

Also, I was surprised how little he pushed his own foreign policy agenda here, like I expected he would and like he has done in the past as a talking head not part of an administration. Instead he reveals that he went into the job thinking he could be part of a Team of Rivals and trying to pull the president in his preferred direction but in the end dutifully going with whatever the president decides.

But that it was problem because there's no there there with this president. And for him to tell those who agree with his foreign policy ideals that there's no there there, and that the situation is much more dangerous than a president that is promoting a different foreign policy, and to say that in published writing before re-election, that's no small thing.

Sure it's less brave than getting tangled up in impeachment testimony with a lawyer by your side and questioners limiting what you can say. But better than silence. Have you ever testified in court? In a court situation, it's extremely frustrating to have the powers that be do things like tell you to answer just yes or not, you have to shut up now and not elaborate, let the lawyers handle it, they only want this little bitty part of the truth right now, no context, no full truth, etc.

by artappraiser on Mon, 06/22/2020 - 10:14am

Yes, it's frustrating to be powerless, to not get your way. I dont remember if Rex refused to testify - i thought he quit/was fired before the Ukraine period in question, not that he's been bold. Bolton was a witness to a crime. He got away with a lot in the Bush years. Here he wasn't part of the A-team, And he's got a sad on. If courses now that he's put out a book, he'll still have to testify before the House - can't have exec privileged And a #1 best seller at the same time.

Note: Bolton's acting like he's directing a 1-man impeachment team. That's pretty audacious, And also extra-Constitutional.

by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 06/22/2020 - 10:22am

(THREAD) I'm reading John Bolton's book The Room Where It Happened, and in this thread I'll tell you a lot about it so you won't have to buy or read it. I'll also discuss the larger problems with coverage of Trump that the book's content raises. I hope you'll read on and RETWEET. pic.twitter.com/y3ZPERWZd0
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) June 21, 2020

by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 06/22/2020 - 10:39am

What Fiona Hill Learned in The White House:

“For Hill, the government’s handling of these crises provides the Russians with yet another propaganda windfall. ...’We’re an object of pity.’” https://t.co/kJlOONseTk
— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) June 23, 2020

These comments and discussion introduce and follow Laura's tweet above:

“On February 5th, the day of Trump’s acquittal, the U.S. had a dozen confirmed cases of covid-19. By June, the death toll in the U.S., the highest in the world, and the response to the pandemic had deepened doubts, at home and abroad, about the government’s competence.” 1/
— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) June 23, 2020

“On June 3rd, Mattis, who until then had been publicly silent about Trump, criticized the Admin’s heavy-handed response to the protests triggered by the murder of George Floyd,..denouncing Trump for dividing the nation& violating the constitutional rights of American citizens. 2/
— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) June 23, 2020

“Hill sometimes suggested..her time in the WH might have gone differently had she understood that her real challenge was in dealing not w/Putin but w/the Americans who sought to influence Trump. ‘There’s the irony. I know the intrigue in Russia better than the intrigue at home’”
— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) June 23, 2020

That, I think, harks back to McMaster's advice.

Hill's immense talent and capacity, built from the moment she set foot in the US as a grad student, still left her an ingenue when dealing with the specific mobbed-up abnormality of this administration.
— Nick (@getyrtrouserson) June 23, 2020

not that mcmaster could follow it. impossible in this admin, because of guy at top, & the horrible people around him
— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) June 23, 2020

Yes. How could you? Even Bolton reached that point: for foreign and defense policy, you assume that governing has soft boundaries but also very hard ones... until they're breached.

I didn't see this at the time, but Hill spoke to the FT in similar terms: https://t.co/9hf106j34m
— Nick (@getyrtrouserson) June 23, 2020

by artappraiser on Tue, 06/23/2020 - 1:29am

Trump tries to quash niece's tell-all

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5ef2accfc5b601e599563b9d

by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 06/24/2020 - 3:50am

"Bolton brought to government a world view that was dug-in and entrenched. For Bolton, the world is hostile, and to survive America must be strong" - @PatPorter76 reviews The Room Where It Happened, by John Bolton https://t.co/Qf5bWtTCxM
— The Critic (@TheCriticMag) July 5, 2020

by artappraiser on Sun, 07/05/2020 - 5:01am

Porter leaves a mark by comparing Bolton's avoidance of Vietnam to his unwillingness to testify at the impeachment.

by moat on Sun, 07/05/2020 - 6:51am

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