Trump news - live: White House sends threatening letter to Bolton, as key witness unexpectedly appears at impeachment trial
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has raged at his ex-national security adviser John Bolton, saying the Ukraine claims made in his forthcoming new memoir are “nonsense” and declaring he would have started “World War Six” if he had not been removed from office last September as the Republican effort to discredit him continues.
A new poll by Quinnipiac University has meanwhile found that 75 per cent of Americans want to hear from Mr Bolton at the president’s Senate impeachment trial as GOP majority leader Mitch McConnell is forced to admit he does not currently have the votes to stop Democrats calling new witnesses to speak out.
And, as fallout has continued to come in from Mr Bolton's apparent book, a letter was released showing that the White House attempted to stop it from being published before the leaked manuscript, arguing that it contains classified information (others have pointed out that Mr Bolton has a long history handling US classified information, so it may be questionable that he would actually include such information in a book write-up).
President Trump delivered his latest Keep America Great rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, last night after unveiling his highly controversial two-state solution to bring peace to the Middle East at the White House, which was cheered by Israel but met with angry protests by Palestinians.
During the ongoing impeachment efforts on Wednesday, Mr Trump's lawyers argued that because the president believes it to be in the country's best interest to win re-election, he could not have done anything wrong by encouraging an investigation into his rival by a foreign government.
And, Lev Parnas showed up at the US Capitol demanding that he be called as a witness in the Senate.
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Protests in the Capitol
Lev Parnas isn't the only unwanted guest in the Capitol today, as hundreds of protesters have made their way into the complex as well.
Here's a video showing that swarm in the Senate.
White House warns Bolton lawyer over 'TOP SECRET' information in manuscript
The White House has warned John Bolton's lawyer that the manuscript of his upcoming book contains "significant amounts of classified information" and that some of the information is "TOP SECRET level".
The letter, sent on Wednesday, warns that the book cannot be published until those sections are edited out. A New York Times report from the weekend claims that portions of the book allege Trump had first-hand knowledge of efforts to coerce Ukraine into launching an investigation of Joe Biden, an allegation at the center of the impeachment trial that is ongoing.
'Ridiculous': Reaction to White House letter to John Bolton's attorney
This is a strong reaction from Michael Bromwich, a former US attorney for the Southern District of New York, and former Inspector General of the Department of Justice.
Pompeo pressuring UK on 5G
Mike Pompeo on Wednesday put pressure on the UK to reconsider its decision to allow Huawei to play a role in its 5G mobile network.
In comments reported by Reuters, Mr Reuters told reporters; "We will make sure that when American information comes across a network, we are confident that network is a trusted one. Our view of Huawei is: putting in your system creates real risk."
"There is also a chance for the United Kingdom to relook at this implementation moving forward," he added.
Mitt Romney has some questions
The former Republican presidential nominee and current senator from Utah has been the focus of attention for many political reporters in recent weeks, as he has teased them with his so-far vague responses to whether he will vote to bring in new witnesses during the impeachment trial.
Here's the list of questions he has submitted to the House managers and White House counsel:
One potential GOP senator says he isn't interested in calling more witnesses
Cory Gardner, who is facing a potentially tough re-election bid in his home state of Colorado, has said he doesn't support calling more witnesses during the impeachment trial.
Gardner is among a handful of Republicans seen as possible allies in that effort for Democrats.
Trump and his fans leave behind some trash in New Jersey
A video shows that the president's fans left behind quite a bit of trash after his rally in Wildwood on Tuesday night.
President's lawyer claims Trump can't be impeached for doing things he thinks might help him get elected, because he believes getting himself reelected is in the public interest.
That seems to be what lawyer Alan Dershowitz argued moments ago on the Senate floor.
Seems like precedent might disagree (anyone remember Richard Nixon?), but here's the video so you can judge for yourself:
Yang to Bernie?
Andrew Yang has said he thinks his supporters may go to Bernie Sanders in next week's Iowa caucuses if he doesn't make it past the first round there.
If true, that would be a welcome addition for Sanders, who has surged in the state recently.
"I think that Bernie and I do have a lot of overlap in support so it wouldn't be surprising to me if many of our supporters head in that direction," Yang told Bloomberg News during a roundtable in Des Moines, Iowa.
Candidate need to attract 15 per cent support in the caucuses to make it past the first round, otherwise those who attempted to caucus are told to go to their second choice.
NY Congressman Engel releases strong statement regarding Bolton call
Engel said in his statement that his staff had reached out to Bolton after his departure last year, and that he spoke with the former national security advisor by phone on 23 September.
During that call, Bolton reportedly urged Engel to look into "the recall" of former Ukraine ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, and that he "strongly implied that something improper had occurred around her removal as our top diplomat in Kyiv."
The statement continues: “Ambassador Bolton has made clear over the last few months that he has more to say on this issue. And now that the President has called his credibility into question, it’s important to set the record straight."
“It’s telling that, of all people, John Bolton is now the target of right-wing ire. It underscores just how important it is that the Senate subpoena Ambassador Bolton as a witness.”
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