Trump tweeted today numerous times that he cannot recall knowing anyone by the name of John Bolton. “Just more fake news from the traitorous Democrats and the Fake News Media who are trying to overturn the will of the voters. They should all be locked up.” Later in the morning when boarding the presidential helicopter behind the White House, he shouted back at reporters,” I may have met him once or twice, but I meet a lot of people and I have photos made with a lot of people. Everyone wants me in their photos. So, yeah, I could have met him once or twice, but he is a nobody.”
When one reporter from NPR shouted, “For God’s sake, Mr. President, he was your National Security Advisor,” Trump screamed back, “I want you locked up for insubordination and treason.”
Later in the day when a spokesperson confirmed that while John Bolton had “in theory” been the National Security Advisor for the president, in reality Trump did not consult with him nor was he familiar with him. The spokesperson said that the president does not rely on any advisors or consultants and makes all the decisions himself based on the facts he has and “gut feel.” When asked by a reporter where the facts the president uses come from, the spokesperson said mainly Fox News and a handful of other reliable news sources like Breitbart.
Toward the end of the day, the White House announced that after reading a copy of the draft of Bolton’s unpublished book, White House lawyers determined that the entire work is classified and that it will be illegal to share any of the information in the book with anyone. The White House will vigorously pursue any violators of this ruling using the “full extent of the law.”
While Democrats expressed outrage, most Republican senators praised the ruling by the White House and stood behind Trump’s assertion that the president did not know Bolton. Many said that even though they were unaware of anyone by that name working in the White House, any document produced by anyone named John Bolton should be classified. For this reason, they are standing by their position that there is absolutely no need for witnesses in the Impeachment Trial in the U.S. Senate and that the trial should be terminated immediately as a “waste of time, witch hunt, and attempted coup by the Democrats to overturn the results of the 2016 election.” The four senators considered on the fence regarding the need for witnesses in the Senate trial all said they were trying to confirm that someone by the name of John Bolton had actually worked in the White House and would make up their minds regarding witnesses “shortly.”