Rep. Elise Stefanik blamed House impeachment manager Adam Schiff for the lack of testimony from John Bolton after leaks from the former national security adviser’s new book alleged that the president withheld Ukrainian aid in exchange for a Biden investigation.
Calls for Bolton, 71, to testify were amplified after he alleged that President Trump told him that he would block military aid to Ukraine if officials would not announce an investigation into Joe Biden and his son Hunter in leaked portions of Bolton’s new book, The Room Where it Happened. During a press conference on Monday, Stefanik explained why she believed testimony from Bolton was unnecessary.
“He did not, because the aid was released to Ukraine, and there was no investigation. The president has said there was no conditionality,” the New York Republican said.
“Gordon Sondland testified, and we saw that played out as the president’s defense team made the case that it was presumption, assumption, and guesswork,” she continued. “So the facts of this case remain the same in that we have more security assistance for Ukraine, much more than under the Obama administration.”
She claimed that it was “Schiff’s choice” for Bolton to not testify during the House proceedings because the California Democrat pushed forward impeachment without waiting for additional testimony. Schiff withdrew a subpoena for testimony from Bolton’s aide and opted to rush impeachment without ever subpoenaing Bolton himself because he believed Trump jeopardized the 2020 election.
The congresswoman added, “Adam Schiff is clearly scared that his case is so weak. Adam Schiff made the decision to withdraw the subpoena. This is an unfair, unconstitutional, and half-baked set of impeachment articles that were sent over to the Senate.”
Stefanik, 35, stood out among Republicans throughout the House’s impeachment process and was chosen to be one of eight House Republicans on Trump’s impeachment team for the Senate trial. The president called Stefanik a “new Republican star” for her role in the House impeachment hearings.
