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GOP Senators feel the heat after Bolton revelations

Video Credit: Reuters Studio - Duration: 02:20s - Published
GOP Senators feel the heat after Bolton revelations

GOP Senators feel the heat after Bolton revelations

Senate Republicans came under new pressure to allow witnesses and new documents in President Trump's impeachment trial after news that a former top aide wrote a book that undercuts Trump's versions of events in the Ukraine affair.

Jonah Green reports.

Republicans in the U.S. Senate are under increasing pressure on Monday to allow witnesses testimony in the president's impeachment trial, after a bombshell revelation appears to confirm the heart of Donald Trump's alleged wrongdoing.

The New York Times cited the manuscript of an unpublished book by former national security advisor John Bolton as saying that Trump told him he wanted to freeze security aid to Ukraine until Kiev helped with investigations into Democrats, including former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) SEN.

CHUCK SCHUMER, SAYING: "If there was ever a shred of logic left to not hear witnesses and review the documents, Mr. Bolton's book just erased it." Senate Republicans thus far have refused to allow any witnesses or new evidence in the trial that will determine whether Trump is removed from office.

But the Bolton report threatens to scramble Republicans' political calculus on how to run the trial.

Republican Senator Mitt Romney said he wanted to hear from Bolton.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) SEN.

MITT ROMNEY, SOUNDBITE: "I think it's increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton and whether there are other witnesses or documents, that's another matter, but I think John Bolton's relevance to our decision has become increasingly clear." And Republican Senator Susan Collins, another moderate, tweeted the reports regarding Bolton’s book “strengthen the case for witnesses and have prompted a number of conversations among my colleagues.” SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) SEN.

JOHN BARRASSO, SAYING: "There is no quid pro quo." Though many Republicans remain solidly on Trump's side.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) SEN.

JOHN BARRASSO, SAYING: “To me the facts of the case remain the same.

There is nothing new here to what the House managers have been saying.

" The new information hung over Monday's proceedings as Trump's lawyers made their case before the Senate.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) PRESIDENT TRUMP'S ATTORNEY JAY SEKULOW, SAYING: "The transcript shows that the president did not condition either security assistance or a meeting on anything." SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) PRESIDENT TRUMP'S ATTORNEY MIKE PURPURA, SAYING: "The House managers' own record, their record that they developed, reflects that anyone who spoke with the president said that the president made clear that there was no linkage between security assistance and investigations." Bolton has said he would testify in the Senate if subpoenaed, after refusing to testify in the House-run inquiry.




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