According to The Washington Post, Trump’s officials are considering ways to nullify Bolton’s possible testimony, which could be explosive given his former position within the administration.
One option, an unnamed senior administration told the newspaper, is to move Bolton’s testimony to a classified rather than public hearing citing national security concerns.
The Trump administration has not confirmed that the plan is under discussion. Newsweek has contacted the White House to request comment.
Nonetheless, Supreme Court lawyer Neal Katyal was among those who voiced their concern over the report on Twitter.
“This is a crime against all Americans,” Katyal wrote. “It is beyond belief that Trump is contemplating using the classification power to hide Bolton’s testimony from the American people.”
The White House and Republican senators have been battling against Democratic demands for witnesses to appear in the president’s Senate trial, which will begin Tuesday. The Democrats need four Republican senators to break ranks and vote to allow witnesses.
Bolton was national security advisor when Trump is alleged to have pressured the Ukrainian government to announce an investigation into possible 2020 rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter last summer. He could thus reveal pivotal additional evidence of Trump’s purported wrongdoing.
In November, Bolton’s lawyer said his client had knowledge of “meetings and conversations” relevant to the House’s impeachment inquiry that had “not yet been discussed in the testimonies thus far.”
The House inquiry ultimately produced a near-party line vote to impeach Trump.
Bolton, who was fired from the administration in September 2019 after a series of disagreements with the president, has said he would be willing to appear in front of the Senate if requested to do so.
Assuming enough Republican senators vote to allow witnesses, Trump’s attorneys would have to request that Bolton’s testimony is shifted to a classified setting. The Post cited one official who said such a move would probably need to be approved by 51 senators.
Author and commentator Tony Schwartz suggested that Trump’s team is trying to block a public appearance by Bolton because the latter “would indict Trump big time.”
Daily Beast columnist Matt Lewis argued, “If Trump is completely innocent, Republicans should welcome the opportunity to have Bolton testify—and clear his name.”
