There are mustaches and then there ARE MUSTACHES. John Bolton falls into the latter category with all caps. Despite the comical mustache (subject to opinion of course), Bolton at one point was one of the most powerful figures in the Trump administration. However, in September of 2019, President Trump fired John Bolton who was his National Security Adviser at the time. Or did John Bolton quit before he could be fired? Rumor has it, Bolton quit before the President was able to fire him. Were these rumors from anonymous Washington sources that seem to be rampant in the media these days? Was it an anonymous leak? No, it was actually John Bolton claiming this.....on Twitter.
Have I ever heard about President Trump's National Security Advisers before?
Since Trump's Inauguration in January 2017, he has had 6 National Security Advisers, 2 of them have been "Acting" Advisers meaning they took over the main job until Trump found another person to take the place of the previous Adviser who had either resigned, got fired or prosecuted.
Wait, prosecuted?
Correct, the very first National Security Adviser was Michael Flynn who plead guilty to lying to the FBI. Despite numerous warnings from President Obama and other officials in the DOJ and Intelligence Community that Flynn had been compromised by the Russians, President Trump hired Michael Flynn as his National Security Adviser. But that only lasted 24 days and he eventually was one of the first people to be charged with a crime in Robert Mueller's Russian Collusion Investigation. As mentioned, President Trump has had 6 National Security Advisers in a little over 2.5 years whereas President Obama only had 3 in 8 years and George W. Bush had 2 in 8 years.
So who the f*** is John Bolton and why are you writing about him?
John Bolton is what they call a foreign policy hawk in Washington. What that means is he believes the United States should police the world and get involved in matters using more force, war and less diplomacy. His hard line policies and views are seen as too aggressive by many and when he was chosen as National Security Adviser for the Trump Administration, there were legitimate fears he would steer the country into confrontations around the globe. Bolton was one of the most vocal voices about invading Iraq in 2003 and despite many officials who once supported the invasion now coming out saying it was a grave mistake, Bolton continues to support the decision that was made back in 2003.
You described Bolton's views and gave some info on him but you still haven't explained why you're writing about him now.
The Democrats Impeachment Inquiry has dominated the news these past few weeks. The basis for this inquiry is a whistle blower came forward claiming he or she believed a phone call President Trump had with the President of Ukraine was of grave concern for the United States. He or she believed President Trump was holding back aid to Ukraine unless the President of Ukraine investigated Joe Biden and his son (political rivals of Trump). If true, it's clear quid pro quo and an impeachable offense. On October 14, Fiona Hill who was the top adviser to Russia in the Trump administration told investigators in the Impeachment Inquiry that she was told by her boss at the time, John Bolton, to ALERT White House lawyers that Rudy Giuliani and Trump's Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney, were up to no good in Ukraine. John Bolton's exact quote according to Fiona Hill, “I am not part of whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney are cooking up".
So you're saying, John Bolton, the war mongering, regime changing, foreign policy hawk, actually thought what President Trump and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, were doing was illegal and wrong, even for his (Bolton's) standards?
Yes.
John Bolton is not known to be a man of reason. In fact, the opposite. For him to think what was going on with Ukraine was so bad that he ordered one of his subordinates to alert White House lawyers is mind-blowing and is terrible news for President Trump, Rudy Giuliani and his Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney.
So who the f*** is John Bolton?
He could be the key witness that ends the Trump presidency. As his National Security Adviser, he was in very high level meetings and was already aware of Ukrainian conversations that he thought were shady even before the whistle blower came forward in July. In addition, his firing or resignation, whichever side you believe, hurt his reputation and could use this opportunity as revenge against President Trump which is why whatever he says should be taken with a grain of salt. Democrats will try to pounce on the information they learned from Fiona Hill's testimony but how much of it is credible vs a workplace dispute?
John Bolton, interesting mustache and a name you may never heard of before but probably will in the future.
