Book Drafts as Evidence

For John, BLUF:  Ambassador John Bolton is a polarizing personality, but apparently at this Star Date the Democrat House Managers see him as holding truth in his hands, or at least his book.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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TDS on Maximum:  Lawrence O'Donnell's Conspiracy Theory on John Bolton

Fom PJ Media, by Mr Tylor O'Neil, 28 January 2020.

Here is the lede plus one:

Listen, guys.  Impeachment is huge.  I mean, it's tremendous.  President Donald Trump is terrified that if the Senate just knew how horrible he is, they would vote to remove him in a heartbeat.  All that's necessary for the truth to come out is former National Security Advisor John Bolton spilling his guts to the American people.  Trump wants to prevent that at all costs.  In fact, he'd be willing to start World War III to stay in office.

Or so go the musings of one Lawrence O'Donnell, a host at MSNBC.  While the entire rest of the world is fooled, he has figured out the secret truth behind Trump's airstrike that killed Iranian Quds Force leader Qasem Suleimani.  You see, it had nothing to do with the Iran-backed militias storming the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.  It had nothing to do with the hundreds of American troops Soleimani's efforts had killed and the troops who may have been targeted in the future.  It had nothing to do with the fact he was a terrorist mastermind ravaging the Middle East for decades.

No, it was all about appeasing John Bolton.

Thank God for the genius of Lawrence O'Donnell, that he can see through the Trump administration's lies and finally get to the bottom of a decision that made absolutely no sense until today!

How did the MSNBC host discover the real truth, you ask?  He read The New York Times.  The Times ran a shocking expose with salacious details of John Bolton's forthcoming book — an expose that was certainly not coordinated with Bolton's book coming out for pre-order on Amazon the same day (how dare you suggest such a thing!).  The Times suggested that after months of witnesses refusing to say Trump directly confessed to a quid pro quo with Ukraine, John Bolton was finally the one witness to bring the whole shining golden tower down.

Are we down to a "he said, she said" kind of situation?  I hope not.

It seems that, if the President scotched Major General Qasem Suleimani to keep Ambassador John Bolton on his side, he failed.  On the other hand, I haven't seen where Ambassador Bolton has spoken out one way or the other.

Perhaps equally important is who leaked the supposed book passage?  Was it LTC Yevgeny Vindman, from the National Security Council, or was it the publisher, or was it Ambassador Bolton, or was it someone with a review copy?  Or was it all made up?  The New York Times has decades of spotty reporting on Ukraine, including the reporting by Times Reporter Walter Duranty on the Holodomor.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff