What About John Kelly and John Bolton?

Yesterday, the Senate voted 51 to 49 not to call witnesses in the impeachment trial of President Trump. It wasn’t a party line vote, but it was close.

Mitt Romney voted with Democrats. I suspect Mitt thinks he has a shot at being president one day. For the good of the country, I hope that never happens.

House Democrats delivered a half-baked impeachment case to the Senate. It was short of witnesses that could have been called in the House Judiciary Committee or the House Intelligence Committee.

According to Adam Schiff, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, those witnesses weren’t subpoenaed in the House, because it would have taken too much time. That’s an odd explanation since subpoenaing them in the Senate would have taken just as much time.

No one knows how many witnesses the House impeachment managers might have wanted to call, but we know for sure that former National Security Advisor John Bolton was one of them. Bolton volunteered to testify in the Senate, because he has written a book in which he talks about things connected with the so-called “Ukraine quid pro quo” situation.

Bolton’s book must be vetted by the National Security Council to make sure that it contains no classified information before it’s published. The vetting process is underway now.

A few days ago, the New York Times published an article that’s based on leaked information. No one has said who did the leaking. The article suggests that Bolton’s book contains detailed information about a conversation between Bolton and President Trump relating to goings-on in Ukraine. Based on what we know so far, it seems as though Bolton was angry with the president for relying on advice from former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in Ukraine corruption matters.

Anyone who has ever worked at or near the top in government understands that petty jealousy is a driving force. In this instance, Bolton saw President Trump’s reliance on Giuliani as a personal affront. As national security advisor, Bolton thought that the president should have relied exclusively on his advice, and he saw Giuliani’s role in Ukraine as interference that undercut his authority.

Based on what we know about Bolton’s modus operandi, he probably thought that he was the president in national security matters. By that, I mean Bolton believed his advice should have been accepted by the president with no questions asked. In effect, that would have given Bolton presidential authority.

That’s typical. Top advisors to presidents and governors do exercise the authority of their bosses, but it is delegated authority. At his or her discretion, the boss can decide to reject the advice of a top advisor and take another course. It happens all the time. If the advisor doesn’t like it and feels strongly enough about it, he or she can resign. That happens all the time, too. In fact, that’s what should happen.

Evidently, Bolton didn’t like President Trump’s decision. He was angry about it, but not angry enough to resign. Instead, he fumed about it and made life difficult for others working near the top. In due course, enough people working directly with the president on a daily basis became frustrated with Bolton’s behavior, and they told the president that Bolton needed to go. After serving as national security advisor for 17 months, Bolton was fired.

Only one thing that happened was out of the ordinary. Bolton didn’t resign. He made the president fire him.

I won’t speculate about what was going on in Bolton’s mind, but I will say that I have dealt with people before in situations like this. They think they are so important that the organization can’t survive without them. For the good of the country or the state or whatever, they stick it out, but they bear a grudge and make life miserable for everybody. They sow seeds of chaos and dysfunction until finally, they have to be let go.

The only thing that makes this incident newsworthy is that John Bolton worked for the President of the United States. That’s it.

Supposedly, no one has read Bolton’s book, but if Bolton is true to form, his book will be an attempt to convince readers that only he knows what is best. He is stubborn to a fault. He is convinced that only he knows what is best for the country, but he doesn’t have the courage to run for president. Bolton probably saw President Trump’s rejection of his advice as interference.

Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly was quoted as saying that he believes whatever Bolton said in his book. That’s really peculiar. Since Kelly has not read Bolton’s book, agreeing with what he said in the book makes no sense at all. It is not a coincidence that Kelly left his job in the White House for the same reason that Bolton left his job. We were told that Kelly “resigned”, but in fact, he was fired, too.

Following yesterday’s vote in the Senate not to call witnesses, John Kelly had more to say. See “Trump’s former chief of staff says Senate impeachment trial without witnesses is ‘a job only half done’”:

A Senate vote to end President Donald Trump’s impeachment proceedings without calling witnesses should be considered “half a trial,” the president’s former chief of staff John Kelly said Friday.

“In my view, they kind of leave themselves open to a lot of criticism,” Kelly said in an interview with NJ Advance Media in advance of his Feb. 12 appearance at Drew University’s Drew Forum speaker series at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown.

“It seems it was half a trial,” Kelly said.

Kelly said he believed former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s assertion that Trump withheld congressionally approved aid to Ukraine to pressure that government into investigating former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

Bolton, who made the claims in an unpublished book reported by the New York Times, was “a copious note taker” and was “an honest guy and an honorable guy,” Kelly said.

For argument’s sake, let’s assume that Kelly is right and that Bolton said in his book what Kelly thinks he said. So what?

Joe and Hunter Biden were involved in corrupt activities in Ukraine. Biden used his role as vice president to enrich his son and himself. The president was doing his job. End of story.

Like Bolton, Kelly is a disgruntled former employee. Their comments should be viewed in that light.

In 2024 when President Trump completes his two terms in office, I hope he will write a tell-all book. If he does, he can give us insights into the workings of government that only a president can provide.

The American people need to understand that our government has been corrupted by career politicians, career political appointees, and career bureaucrats. They think they are the government and that the American people work for them. Anyone who dares to challenge their authority is viewed as an enemy of the state, especially a president who sees them for what they are.

President Trump’s “crimes” are 1) that he rejects the status quo in Washington and 2) that he is committed to changing it. He calls it “draining the swamp”.

That’s why official Washington is so upset with the president.

That’s why Democrats in Washington have been trying to impeach President Trump since the day he won the 2016 election.

That’s why establishment Republicans are complaining about changes in the Republican Party since President Trump took the helm. They are saying that the Republican Party today is Trump’s party as though that’s a bad thing. From my perspective, that’s a good thing, and enough people agree with me to elect and re-elect Donald Trump.

Now, compare former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley with John Bolton and John Kelly. She probably had policy differences with the president, too, and she resigned after having done a great job for our country.

Unlike Bolton and Kelly, Haley didn’t fume and fuss and leak and wait to be fired. She has a bright future in politics. I have a strong hunch at this point that Nikki Haley will be elected President of the United States in 2024.

Bolton and Kelly are finished. All they can do at this point is tell the world how smart they are and hope that people are willing to pay to hear them talk.

Again, there is nothing new here. This kind of thing happens all the time. It is not newsworthy.

The Senate did the right thing yesterday when senators voted not to call witnesses in hopes of propping up a losing case for impeachment prepared by House Democrats. Senator Schumer insists that senators have two days to talk before they vote to acquit the president. That’s fine. Senators love to talk.

We can look forward to two days of talking points for the 2020 election on Monday and Tuesday of next week. On Wednesday of next week when the senators are through talking, the Senate will do exactly what everybody knows it will do. It’s a waste of time, but as I said, senators love to talk.

This is what we know:

President Trump is doing his job. It’s the job we elected him to do.
President Trump is accomplishing amazing things even though Democrats are trying desperately to prevent him from accomplishing anything.
President Trump has given the Republican Party a complete overhaul over the strong objections of establishment Republicans. Stated another way, President Trump has made the Republican Party relevant again.
President Trump is draining the swamp, and swamp rats are frantic. That’s what the impeachment push is all about.

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“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17: 22-24)