Retired General John Kelly served as President Donald Trump's Chief of Staff until late 2018, and now he's siding against Trump on a crucial point.
Former National Security Advisor John Bolton's allegations in his upcoming memoir have rocked the impeachment trial in the Senate. Bolton claims Trump sought to withhold aid from Ukraine until it acquiesced to performing politically beneficial investigations for Trump's reelection bid.
The allegations have led to calls from Democrats to have Bolton testify before the Senate.
For his part, Trump denied ever having such a discussion with Bolton.
When speaking to a crowd as part of a lecture series for the Ringling College Library Association, Kelly sided with Bolton over Trump:
"If John Bolton says that in the book, I believe John Bolton."
Kelly and Bolton's tenures overlapped in the administration for about nine months, with Bolton leaving in January of 2019—just before Trump's Ukraine scheme began getting carried out by officials.
He then echoed the desires of 75% of Americans by calling for additional witnesses in the Senate trial:
"I mean half of Americans think this process is purely political and shouldn't be happening but since it is happening the majority of Americans would like to hear the whole story. So I think if there are people that could contribute to this, either innocence or guilt...I think they should be heard."
It spoke volumes that Kelly sided with Bolton over his former boss.
A growing number of Senate Republicans have signaled a willingness to hear from Bolton.
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