| Bolton Would Testify If Subpoenaed in Trump Impeachment Posted: 06 Jan 2020 11:17 AM PST ![Bolton Would Testify If Subpoenaed in Trump Impeachment]( "Bolton Would Testify If Subpoenaed in Trump Impeachment") (Bloomberg) -- Former National Security Adviser John Bolton said Monday he is willing to testify if subpoenaed during President Donald Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate."I have concluded that, if the Senate issues a subpoena for my testimony, I am prepared to testify," Bolton said in a statement posted on his political action committee's website.Bolton's pronouncement injects fresh drama into the trial, which has been delayed amid partisan squabbling over Democrats' demand that key administration figures appear as witnesses.The White House blocked many of those people, including Bolton, from testifying to the House during its impeachment inquiry into Trump's attempt to pressure the Ukrainian government to investigate his political rivals.Bolton's move ratchets up pressure on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to agree to call witnesses during the trial, a commitment he has refused to make. McConnell has ripped the Senate's Democratic leader Chuck Schumer's call for testimony from four witnesses, including acting White House chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and Bolton, as a "fishing expedition."Senate Democrats seized on the announcement."John Bolton should testify," tweeted Senator Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee.A Senate Republican leadership aide said it would take 51 votes to issue a subpoena for Bolton's testimony, an outcome that might be unlikely in the GOP-controlled chamber. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Bolton could potentially offer explosive testimony about what Trump said privately during his effort to force Ukraine to probe former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. He would be the most senior Trump White House aid to testify in impeachment proceedings.Former National Security Council official Fiona Hill testified to the House that Bolton referred to the president's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, as a "hand grenade who's going to blow everybody up." Giuliani has led a months-long effort to dig up dirt on the Bidens in Ukraine, work he has said he has done in his capacity as Trump's private lawyer.Bolton referred to the efforts to pressure Ukraine as a "drug deal" and said he would not get involved, Hill said.In November, Bolton's lawyer wrote in a letter filed in federal court that the former Trump adviser "was personally involved in many of the events, meetings, and conversations about which you have already received testimony, as well as many relevant meetings and conversations that have not yet been discussed in the testimonies thus far."Bolton had joined a lawsuit with Charles Kupperman, who worked on the National Security Council, and sued Trump and House Democrats in October seeking a ruling on whether the president's order for him to ignore a House subpoena was legal. The House ultimately withdrew its subpoena, and the Justice Department said it wouldn't go after Kupperman for flouting it, making the dispute moot, the judge decided.(Updates with lawsuit in final paragraph.)\--With assistance from Laura Litvan and Steven T. Dennis.To contact the reporter on this story: Jordan Fabian in Washington at jfabian6@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Joshua Gallu, Justin BlumFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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| The Latest: Iran's supreme leader prays over slain general Posted: 05 Jan 2020 11:05 PM PST  Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has prayed over the caskets of the top Iranian general and others slain in a U.S. airstrike near the Baghdad airport last week. The general's successor, Easmail Ghaani stood near his side, as did Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and other top leaders in the Islamic Republic. An Iranian general who replaced the leader killed by a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad has vowed to take revenge as Tehran abandoned the remaining limits of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers in response to the slaying.
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| Maduro accused of parliamentary ‘coup’ after replacing Guaidó as president of assembly Posted: 05 Jan 2020 05:10 PM PST  Troops blocked presidential rival from entering the parliament building in Venezuela's capital, CaracasVenezuela's opposition has accused president Nicolás Maduro of masterminding an illegal parliamentary "coup" after an apparent bid to decapitate the challenge from his presidential rival Juan Guaidó by replacing him as head of the country's opposition-controlled parliament.Guaidó shot to international prominence last January after he was elected president of Venezuela's national assembly and used that position to declare himself the country's legitimate interim leader.On Sunday Guaidó had hoped to extend his leadership of the anti-Maduro movement by being re-elected as the assembly's president for another year.But there were scenes of chaos and confusion as security forces and riot troops blocked opposition lawmakers and journalists from entering the parliament building in Venezuela's capital, Caracas.> The moment Juan Guaidó tries to jump a fence to get inside the parliament as the PSUV's 'opposition' candidate Luis Parra is illegally sworn in as president of the National Assembly pic.twitter.com/4p6lgO3qBf> > — Germania Rodriguez Poleo (@iamGermania) January 5, 2020Dramatic video footage showed Guaidó attempting to climb over a fence into the assembly's grounds but being repelled by members of Maduro's Bolivarian National Guard.After a lengthy stand-off, Luis Parra – nominally an opposition politician who many suspect has been co-opted by Maduro – declared himself the assembly's new president with support from pro-Maduro members, while many Guaidó backers remained outside.The move sparked outrage among Guaidó supporters in and outside Venezuela. At an improvised session in the headquarters of a local newspaper, pro-Guaidó lawmakers re-elected him as national assembly president, meaning that it – like Venezuela – now had two rival leaders."Today, once again, we have defeated the dictatorship," Guaidó told supporters. "We have resoundingly defeated the dictatorship's intentions."The United States criticised the Maduro regime's move, saying it would not recognize what it called a desperate and phoney "farce" that went "completely against the will of the people", adding: "Democracy cannot be intimidated."A European Union spokesperson said the day's events were unacceptable and represented "a new step in the deterioration of the Venezuelan crisis". "As a consequence, the EU continues to recognise Juan Guaidó as the legitimate president of the national assembly," the EU added.The foreign minister of Brazil's far-right government, Ernesto Araújo, accused Maduro of attempting to forcefully prevent Guaidó's re-election, tweeting: "Brazil will not recognize any outcome of this violence and this affront to democracy."But there was also criticism from Argentina's new left-wing government. "Forcibly preventing the functioning of the national assembly means condemning oneself to international isolation," tweeted its new foreign minister, Felipe Solá.The move appeared designed to further weaken Guaidó, who recently vowed 2020 would be Venezuela's "year of freedom" despite the growing impression that his campaign against Maduro is faltering.More than 50 governments including the United States, the United Kingdom and Brazil recognized Guaidó as Venezuela's president, based on his leadership of the assembly and suspicions Maduro had stolen the 2018 presidential election.Despite that backing, mass street protests, and at least two attempts to spark military uprisings against Maduro, Guaidó has failed to topple Hugo Chávez's authoritarian heir, who still enjoys support from China and Russia.In a recent interview with El País, Guaidó denied his movement had failed and compared himself to a jogger entering "the final lap" of the quest for political change.In a televised speech on Sunday afternoon, Maduro recognized Parra's leadership and attacked Guaidó as a "puppet of North American imperialism".But Christopher Sabatini, a senior fellow for Latin America at the Chatham House thinktank, said Maduro's "brutal and ham-fisted" move could backfire by "re-legitimizing" Guaidó as a "democratic martyr".Guaidó's international supporters would remain loyal, even if he did not retain his position at the head of the national assembly. "They won't abandon him," Sabatini predicted.
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