Just one day after President Donald Trump's lawyers insisted during his Senate impeachment trial that the President did nothing wrong, reporting from the New York Times made the job of defending Trump even more difficult.
The Times reported on the upcoming memoir from Trump's former National Security Advisor John Bolton, which asserts that President Trump sought to withhold $391 million in congressionally approved aid from Ukraine until its President announced an investigation into his potential 2020 rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.
If true, Bolton's assertion would confirm previous second-hand testimony regarding the existence of a quid pro quo in Trump's dealings with Ukraine.
The revelations further amplified calls for four Republican Senators to break with their party and vote in favor of subpoenaing witnesses, many of whom were withheld by the Trump administration from testifying in the House impeachment inquiry.
Trump and other White House officials completely deny the allegations in Bolton's book, leading others to challenge both Trump and Bolton to testify under oath before the Senate to prove the veracity of the allegation and the subsequent denial.
Meanwhile, one of Trump's favorite networks—Fox News—insists there's no "there" there.
Fox host Steve Hilton insisted that Biden's allegations don't change anything.
Hilton said:
"I've read the full report and it seems to me that it doesn't change anything of substance, but you can be sure this is the story that impeachment fanatics on establishment state TV will be obsessed with tomorrow."
Hilton's dismissal in defense of Trump frustrated people, to say the least.
One of Trump's and other Republicans' previous defenses was that no firsthand witnesses to Trump's orders on Ukraine testified before the House committees overseeing the process. This is because the White House withheld these witnesses from testifying.
A vote for hearing more witnesses could send the administration's bulwark against further testimony crumbling.
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social