Bolton Backers React to Book 'Bombshell'

In November, three longtime supporters of John Bolton were unanimous in their view that if the former national security advisor were to testify in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, he would be an asset to his former boss.

Nearly three months later, The New York Times reported that Bolton's forthcoming memoir would confirm that the president told him he wanted to tie $391 million in military aid for Ukraine to its government investigating the activities of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

Newsmax spoke to the same three supporters about what is increasingly being dubbed the "Bolton bombshell."

"I do not understand John's most recent actions," Republican National Committee member Morton Blackwell, a longtime conservative activist from Virginia, told us. "Perhaps time will tell."

David Keene, an ex-chairman of the American Conservative Union and a former president of the National Rifle Association, said, "It appears that the 'revelations' leaked about Bolton's as of yet-unpublished book could convince a majority of senators to want to hear what he has to say."

Once an aide to Vice President Spiro Agnew, Keene has known Bolton since the early 1970s when the future national security adviser was an intern in Agnew's office.

"While I suspect [Bolton testifying] will delay rather than change the final vote on impeachment, I know John well enough to know that neither side should expect him to be anything but truthful, regardless of who he helps or hurts," Keene said. "John Bolton has always been a truth-teller and neither the president of the United States or the House impeachment team are going to change that."

"I don't know what to think," said Bruce Herschensohn, a onetime Nixon White House staffer and a recently retired professor at California's Pepperdine University. "The fact is this comes from The New York Times and they have been wrong about so much since the Trump administration began."

Herschensohn said barring any dramatic revelation, he still does not believe Bolton would say anything in the trial to endanger Trump.

"John Bolton's character wouldn't allow it, and right now he is rehearsing to himself how to say the truth without any negative word regarding Trump," Herschensohn added.

John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.