John Bolton's attorneys consulting with lawmakers about possibly cooperating with the impeachment inquiry
Attorneys for former National Security Adviser John Bolton are consulting with lawmakers about possibly cooperating with the impeachment inquiry, CBS News' Paula Reid reports. Bolton was one of the officials on the July 25 phone call between Mr. Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, and witnesses have testified that Bolton was so concerned by the efforts to press Ukraine to investigate President Trump's rivals that he called it a "drug deal."
Mr. Trump fired Bolton last month. Mr. Trump tweeted at the time that he asked for Bolton's resignation because Mr. Trump "disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions," although Bolton insisted he resigned.
On October 16, former National Security Council Director for European Affairs Fiona Hill testified in a closed-door meeting. According to The New York Times, Hill said that Bolton was very concerned about the work Rudy Giuliani, Gordon Sondland and Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney were doing. The Times reported that Hill said Bolton told lawmakers "I am not part of whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney are cooking up."
While it's unclear exactly what Bolton was referencing, CBS News reported in September that at least one week before Mr. Trump's call with Zelensky, Mr. Trump instructed Mulvaney to hold off on releasing millions in military aid for Ukraine.
Three more Trump administration officials were subpoenaed Friday in Democrats' impeachment inquiry. Russell Vought, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB); Michael Duffey, OMB's associate director for National Security Programs and T. Ulrich Brechbuhl, a State Department counselor, have all been ordered to testify on November 5 and November 6. OMB, the agency where Vought and Duffey work, was involved in the delayed release of aid to Ukraine.
Also this week, Tim Morrison, a top national security adviser for Russia and Europe, became the first current White House official to agree to testify if subpoenaed.
Earlier this week, William Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, appeared for nine-and-a-half hours in a closed-door deposition that Democrats said "was very devastating to Donald Trump."
Paula Reid and Kathryn Watson contributed to this report.