Bolton book renews calls for witnesses

WASHINGTON—Former national security adviser John Bolton claims President Donald Trump told him he wanted to withhold millions of dollars of aid from Ukraine until it helped investigate former Vice President Joe Biden. The New York Times obtained a draft of Bolton’s upcoming book in which he wrote about the alleged conversation in August. The president denied Bolton’s account on Sunday, accusing him of just trying to sell more books.

How will this affect Trump’s impeachment trial? Sen. Mitt Romey, R-Utah, would like Bolton to testify. He said on Monday he thought the revelations in the book would make others more likely to feel the same way. If three other GOP senators agree, Democrats would have enough votes to call witnesses.

On Saturday, lawyers Pat Cipollone and Michael Purpura presented the first two hours of Trump’s defense arguments. Attorneys Alan Dershowitz, Ken Starr, and Pam Bondi are resuming the defense on Monday afternoon.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Stew about how the president’s supporters and detractors met the impeachment trial with relative silence for a historic event in Washington.