House Managers Statement on New York Times Report on John Bolton

Statement

Today, the House Managers in the impeachment trial of the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump -- Adam Schiff, Jerrold Nadler, Zoe Lofgren, Hakeem Jeffries, Val Demings, Jason Crow, and Sylvia Garcia -- issued the following joint statement:

"Today's explosive revelation that President Trump personally told former National Security Advisor John Bolton that he would continue the freeze on military aid to Ukraine until that country agreed to his political investigations confirms what we already know. There can be no doubt now that Mr. Bolton directly contradicts the heart of the President's defense and therefore must be called as a witness at the impeachment trial of President Trump.

"Senators should insist that Mr. Bolton be called as a witness, and provide his notes and other relevant documents. The Senate trial must seek the full truth and Mr. Bolton has vital information to provide. There is no defensible reason to wait until his book is published, when the information he has to offer is critical to the most important decision Senators must now make -- whether to convict the President of impeachable offenses.

"During our impeachment inquiry, the President blocked our request for Mr. Bolton's testimony. Now we see why. The President knows how devastating his testimony would be, and, according to the report, the White House has had a draft of his manuscript for review. President Trump's cover-up must come to an end.

"Americans know that a fair trial must include both the documents and witnesses blocked by the President -- that starts with Mr. Bolton."