Press Releases

Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement:

“John Bolton may be an author, but he’s no patriot.

“During impeachment proceedings in the House, members of John Bolton’s staff were asked to testify about President Trump’s abuse of power. And they did. They had a lot to lose, and showed real courage when their country needed it. When Bolton was asked, he refused, and said that he would sue the House if he was subpoenaed. When Senate Republicans blocked Bolton’s testimony during the Senate trial to protect Trump, we asked if Bolton would be willing to provide written testimony before the trial was over. He refused, again, and decided to save it for his book.

“Notwithstanding John Bolton’s self-serving silence during the impeachment investigation, the allegations he raises are very serious. They further demonstrate what we proved at trial, not only regarding his Ukraine misconduct, but more consequentially, that he has a pattern and practice of abusing his power for personal and political gain.

“Donald Trump withheld aid to Ukraine to press them to conduct a sham investigation of his political rival. Bolton is alleging that Trump also sought re-election help from Chinese President Xi, and may have been willing to sacrifice our country’s trade and economic interests to get it.  Perhaps more disturbing, Trump reportedly told Xi that putting a million Uighurs in a concentration camp was not only okay with him, but the right thing to do.  Whether such a despicable statement was designed to curry election help, trade concessions or just owing to Trump’s fondness for dictatorship, his statement is a betrayal of American values.  Perhaps stemming from the same desire to please autocrats, Trump also reportedly promised to intervene to help Turkey’s Erdogan with the criminal case against a Turkish bank for evading U.S. sanctions against Iran.

“If these new allegations are accurate, it is further proof that Trump’s coercion of Ukraine, for which he was impeached, is part of a persistent pattern by Trump of abusing his position and misusing the powers of the U.S. government to seek personal and political benefits from foreign governments. Trump has consistently put his own interests ahead of the national interest, and in so doing, has threatened our national security and undermined our values.

“We will continue to hold Trump accountable, and work to expose his abuses and corruption. In the coming days, we will be consulting with the Speaker and other chairs on next steps.

“History will judge those Republicans who sought to protect Trump, harshly. It will judge those who refused to testify when others came forward, harshly. And it will judge Donald Trump harshest of them all.”

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