Democrat Doug Jones Wants to Subpoena John Bolton’s Book

Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) has suggested that if John Bolton is not brought to testify in the impeachment trial, his book could be instead.

“The Senate needs to hear from Bolton. The American people deserve to hear from Bolton,” Jones tweeted Sunday evening, sharing a story from the New York Times about an as-yet-unpublished manuscript in which the former national security advisor reportedly claims, “President Trump said he wanted to keep aid to Ukraine frozen until its officials helped him with investigations into Democrats.”

But the Alabama senator has a backup plan, in case it proves too difficult to get Bolton on the stand. “If we can’t get Bolton let’s get a subpoena for the book!” he wrote, tagging the tweet “#subpoenathebook” and “#ImpartialJustice.”

Like his colleagues on the left, Jones continues to call for more witnesses and documents to be presented during the trial. Unless they can secure at least four Republican votes, however, their prospects look grim.

“Senators should insist that Mr. Bolton be called as a witness, and provide his notes and other relevant documents,” said House managers in an official statement. “The Senate trial must seek the full truth and Mr. Bolton has vital information to provide.”

In response to this latest furor, Bolton’s own former chief of staff, Fred Fleitz, has published an op-ed on Fox News calling for Bolton to remove the upcoming book release from the election year. “I strongly disagree with Bolton’s decision to release the book before the November presidential election and call on him to withdraw it from the publisher immediately,” he wrote.