Adam Schiff Suggests Democrats to Investigate Bolton Book Claims: “I”ll Be Discussing This with the Speaker”

Bolton has made several eye-opening claims in his book.

But conservatives question Bolton's credibility in monetizing the accusations rather than testifying against Trump.

One of the accusations is that Trump asked China to help him win re-election.

The Washington Examiner has more details:

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff left the door open to investigations into President Trump based on the allegations made in John Bolton's new book.

The California Democrat, who was the lead manager in the Ukraine-related impeachment trial against Trump, told CBS News the other party leaders would be "discussing" whether Bolton's claims warranted additional inquiries.

"I’ll be discussing this with the speaker and with my fellow chairs about what next steps may be necessary," he said Thursday on This Morning. "We haven’t had a chance to read the book. Only excerpts. So I’ll want to look deeply into the allegations and have a chance to confer about what the Congress should do about what John Bolton has to say at this very belated moment."

In one of the leaks from Bolton's book, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, which is scheduled to be released next week, the former national security adviser alleged that the president sought reelection help from Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

“He stressed the importance of farmers, and increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat in the electoral outcome. I would print Trump’s exact words but the government’s prepublication review process has decided otherwise,” Bolton wrote.

In response to that claim, Schiff said it was a "perfect parallel" to what Trump "did with Ukraine, which was subjugate the country’s interest to his own political fortunes and try to get a foreign country to illicitly help him in his campaign. And this appears to be what he was doing with China, as well."

With the exception of Bolton's claims, there appears to be no evidence that Trump has colluded with the Chinese to win reelection.

In fact, it is well known that Trump has been extraordinarily firm with China.

Tariffs with China, for example, are meant to help balance the trade deficits between our nations.

It is unclear whether Adam Schiff believes John Bolton.

But will that stop another "investigation?"

Schiff acknowledges that the optics of Bolton publishing the book but refusing to testify appears strange, according to CBS News:

John Bolton is joining a growing line of former Trump administration officials to speak out against the president. House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said his decision to do it through a tell-all memoir months after refusing to testify in the House impeachment inquiry "tells you a lot about John. Bolton's character."

"Whether his testimony would have made a significant difference in trial — it may have if it led to further evidence and further witnesses — but we'll never know," Schiff said on "CBS This Morning" Thursday. "This is the price the country had to pay for John Bolton's putting profit above country."

Despite the timing, Schiff vowed to "look deeply into the allegations" and said they are "consistent with other evidence" against Mr. Trump.

"You could certainly question — and I think should question — John Bolton's patriotism in withholding the information during an impeachment proceeding," Schiff said. "But that doesn't necessarily detract from the seriousness of what he alleges against the president."

Bolton had refused to testify in late 2019, when House Democrats levied impeachment charges against President Trump over a whistleblower's charges he was abusing his power in dealings with Ukraine.

Mr. Trump's former adviser said he would testify at the Senate impeachment trial if subpoenaed, but he was not called by Republicans.

Schiff, who managed the House impeachment case against Mr. Trump, said Bolton "made it clear" that any subpoena during the House hearings would come with a long legal battle, despite the fact "his deputies were willing to testify."

One such deputy was Fiona Hill, who said Bolton likened Mr. Trump's dealings with Ukraine to a "drug deal."

"They had the courage of their convictions, but Bolton's argument was essentially no, that it would potentially impede on the president, that it would violate, potentially, his constitutional duty," Schiff said.

It seemed, Schiff said, "those concerns gave way to a $2 million book offer."

John Bolton refused to testify during impeachment.

It is likely that he would refuse to testify if Democrats move forward with investigating the claims made in his book.

So far, Schiff claims that he will refuse to purchase a copy of the book.

We'll see if that holds true.