In a bombshell interview with ABC News, John Bolton heavily insinuated that “members of [President Trump’s] family” would tell him to throw a Democratic Supreme Court appointee’s seat to a liberal justice if he were elected to a second term.
“But let’s imagine he’s reelected and a member of the liberal side of the Supreme Court leaves,” Bolton said. “I could imagine advisers that he has now saying, ‘You know, you nominated two wonderful conservative justices in your first term. Now think of your legacy. Think of the balance of the Supreme Court. Nominate equally competent liberal justices in your second term so that you leave the balance of the Court as it was when you came in. What a legacy that would be.'”
Bolton did not refute when Martha Raddatz of ABC News mentioned Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump as the likely “members of [Trump’s] family” that would suggest such a thing.
Bolton’s escalating beef with Trump has hardly come as a surprise for more than a year now, with Bolton’s brand of “Americanism,” that is, a brand of active, overseas defense of American interests that differs distinctly from democracy promotion or neoconservatism, clashing with Trump’s combination of instinctive nonintervention and problematic political interests. But his insight into the inner workings of the White House is telling, most alarmingly with regards to the first daughter and her husband, the 39-year-old senior adviser to Trump.
Bolton asserted that Kushner held “the most power in the White House.” After complimenting Vice President Pence, Bolton refused to answer whether Kushner was “the most qualified person for” his jobs.
Raddatz also asked Bolton to explain his insinuation that Trump only issued a statement after the Saudi slaughter of Jamal Khashoggi to “divert attention from Ivanka” for her malfeasance with a private email account.
“Now, in fact, he also strongly believed in the statement that he made about U.S. policy vis-a-vis Saudi Arabia, despite the killing of Khashoggi because of the arms sales relationship and other things,” said Bolton. “But it was very much on his mind that day that his daughter was taking some heavy hits in the press and absolutely guaranteed this diverted everyone’s attention.”
Although Bolton’s career credentials are sterling, Trump’s supporters have reason to be suspect of the former national security adviser’s specific grievances with the president. After all, he could have testified during the impeachment inquiry or trial while Trump was under formal investigation for high crimes and misdemeanors, but he did not respond to a formal request.
But Bolton is one of the few former administration officials with exclusive insight into Trump’s closest circles. If he’s ringing the alarm on Jared and Ivanka’s influence and, more importantly, claiming they would sabotage the crown jewel of Trump’s legacy in a second term, conservatives across the board ought to listen.
After all, the highest bench in the nation has the single most promise for conservatives, especially considering the Republican Party’s inability to enact immigration reform, deficit reduction, or entitlement cuts in the legislature. Of the Republican appointees, two are still in their 50s, Chief Justice John Roberts is just 65, and Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas are 70 and 71, respectively.
By contrast, the youngest Democratic appointee is Elena Kagan at 60, with Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg both octogenarians. If Jared and Ivanka succeeded in convincing Trump to throw a liberal seat to a non-originalist justice more successfully than they negotiated Israel policy or immigration, the cost to conservative confidence would be insurmountable.
