WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton said Monday that he is “prepared to testify” if he is subpoenaed by the Senate in its impeachment trial.
Bolton, who left the White House in September, said that he has weighed the issues of executive privilege and that after “careful consideration and study” decided that he would comply with a Senate subpoena.
“I have concluded that, if the Senate issues a subpoena for my testimony, I am prepared to testify," he said in a statement.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has publicly expressed resistance to calling new witnesses in the trial, though Democrats are pressing to hear from Bolton and others who did not appear before the House's inquiry in the upcoming proceedings.
Bolton's statement comes as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is stalling House-passed articles of impeachment against Trump in a bid to get new witnesses to testify. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has proposed calling several witnesses, including Bolton, but McConnell has so far rejected Schumer's terms.
It is unclear when Pelosi will eventually release the articles. If she decides to do so in the coming days, a Senate trial could start as soon as this week.
“We can’t hold a trial without the articles,” McConnell tweeted Monday. “The Senate’s own rules don’t provide for that. So, for now, we are content to continue the ordinary business of the Senate while House Democrats continue to flounder. For now.”
Asa Hutchinson, who recently completed two terms as Arkansas governor, said Sunday he will seek the Republican presidential nomination, positioning himself as an alternative to Donald Trump just days after the former president was indicted by a grand jury in New York.
Prosecutors say Donald Trump conspired to undermine the 2016 election through a series of hush money payments designed to stifle claims that could be harmful to his candidacy.
He is expected to be joined in Florida by supporters as he tries to project an image of strength and defiance and turn the charges into a political asset to boost his 2024 presidential campaign.
Board members picked by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to oversee the governance of Walt Disney World said Wednesday that their Disney-controlled predecessors pulled a fast one on them by passing restrictive covenants that strip the new board of many of its powers.
The federal government has filed a lawsuit against railroad Norfolk Southern over environmental damage caused by a train derailment on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border that spilled hazardous chemicals.
The charges in the indictment, made by a Manhattan grand jury, center on payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter.
