Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine suggested Sunday there are some nefarious connections between President Trump’s new national security adviser John Bolton and the Russian government that could keep him from getting a security clearance, but didn’t offer any proof.
Kaine said on CNN’s “State of the Union” he’s concerned by Bolton’s appearance in a video for a Russian gun rights group in November 2013. NPR reported Thursday Bolton appeared in the video at the request of former National Rifle Association president David Keene.
Kaine said this raises questions about Bolton, who has spoken forcefully against Russia and its meddling in the 2016 election.
“A report surfaced right after he was named about a speech that he gave in Russia in 2013 at the request of a Russian oligarch who’s very close to Vladimir Putin. These kind of contacts with foreign governments, especially in the words of Gen. [Joseph] Dunford, who is head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Russia is the chief nation-state adversary to the United States,” he said. “These kinds of contacts raise real questions in my mind about whether he could get a full security clearance or not.”
Bolton is an anti-Russia hawk who has been roundly criticized by Democrats for his foreign policy views after being named the new national security adviser. Trump fired Gen. H.R. McMaster from the role on Thursday.
In the video, Bolton pushed for looser gun restrictions in Russia.
“Thank you for this opportunity to address the Russian people on the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Russian Constitution,” Bolton said, according to NPR. “Were the Russian national government to grant a broader right to bear arms to its people, it would be creating a partnership with its citizens that would better allow for the protection of mothers, children and families without in any way compromising the integrity of the Russian state. That is my wish and my advice to your great people.”
Kaine said this appearance now raises questions about what contacts he’d had with the Kremlin.
“Even though the Senate doesn’t get a vote to confirm the national security adviser, I have many, many questions not only about John Bolton’s philosophy but about these contacts with Russia and potentially other governments,” he said.
Kaine also argued Bolton manipulates intelligence in order to push his preferred actions by the administration’s he’s served.
“John Bolton had a hard time getting senate votes to the U.N. ambassador because of a track record alleged by many that he would cook intelligence in ways that even the Intel agencies like the CIA found to be deeply problematic,” he said. “You can’t have an national security adviser that is going to be straightforward about what the intelligence suggests that the nation should do.”
