Patterico's Pontifications

11/22/2019

John Bolton: Free At Last

Filed under: General — Dana @ 11:19 am



[guest post by Dana]

Today, John Bolton, who hasn’t tweeted since Sept. 10, started his morning by posting a a couple of cryptic tweets:

Bolton, who has declined to testify at the impeachment inquiry, left the teaser sitting there. In the meantime, President Trump was asked during his call-in interview on Fox and Friends, whether he played a part in freezing Bolton’s Twitter account. The president denied any involvement:

“No, of course not,” Trump said. “I had a good relationship with John.”

He also admitted that he and Bolton had had their share of disagreements.

Just minutes ago, Bolton blamed the White House for his absence from Twitter:

Was the president lying about his involvement, or did his people make the decision to refuse Bolton access without Trump’s knowledge, thus making the president look unaware? Of course, the really important question is, will Bolton talk now??

Stay tuned…

(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)

–Dana

45 Responses to “John Bolton: Free At Last”

  1. Hello.

    Dana (cb74ca)

  2. Testify under oath or STFU. I don’t believe anything members of this administration (current or past) say that isn’t under oath and subject to cross examination. They’ve lost credibility beyond the lack of credibility most politicians have. This is for both the ones that support Trump, and the ones that now criticize him. If there’s corroboration I can accept their statements as correct. But I’m not gong to give kudos to people who could put information on the record and choose not to do so.

    Time123 (6e0727)

  3. Because if you’re John Bolton, a veteran of the talking head circuit well before Twitter even existed, the way to muzzle you is to remove access to your T account.

    Munroe (dd6b64)

  4. @2 @3, indeed. As if the guy couldn’t say what he wanted at any time. F his stupid tweets. And F twitter in general.

    JRH (52aed3)

  5. I’m going to blame bureaucracy and process rather than some petty crap from Trump. Not because Trump isn’t petty, but because it would be too much work for President LePetomane

    Kevin M (19357e)

  6. After all, if there is a hallmark of this administration, it’s living in total fear of what some loose cannon my post on Twitter.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  7. *may

    Kevin M (19357e)

  8. #2’s opening line is the edumacted contextual version of “S#$% or Get off the Pot!”. Which is my general greeting to Never, Not or Reluc-Trump these days

    urbanleftbehind (ec8980)

  9. #2’s opening line is the edumacted contextual version of “S#$% or Get off the Pot!”. Which is my general greeting to Never, Not or Reluc-Trump these days

    urbanleftbehind (ec8980)

  10. The Left’s reaction to South Park’s Board Girls episode reminds me of the resistance/impeachment squad.

    Journalist EW
    @JournalistEW
    South Park’s “satire” depicting transgender athletes beating female athletes was both unfunny & dangerous.

    Is it finally time to ban the series from television, streaming services and all other forms of media?
    [includes poll to ban or not to ban]
    __ _

    Journalist EW
    @JournalistEW
    DO NOT RETWEET if your intent is to invite more trolls to vote. This is a form of harassment.
    __ _

    Journalist EW
    @JournalistEW
    It’s evident most voters retweeted and voted on this poll based on their own biased interests.

    Considering this disruption to the poll, we will be adjusting it for accuracy or re-doing the poll if a correct outcome is not achieved. Thanks!
    __ _

    Journalist EW
    @JournalistEW
    Our demands to South Park if it’s not BANNED:

    1. Original creators to step down
    2. A new diverse writing & art staff
    3. New actors + characters (women, trans & immigrants)
    4. A new relatable premise + setting

    South Park shouldn’t be a propaganda vehicle for whiteness
    __ _

    harkin (337580)

  11. I forgot to add that satire is so hard to differentiate from Woke Nation that if this was a troll job I wouldn’t be surprised.

    harkin (337580)

  12. Walrus Gumbo, ex-president of Fox News’cancelled ‘Red Eye’ and most recently fired by the President of the United States of America because he didn’t workand play well with others never fails to disappoint- and reaffirm to all what a total, self-centered scumbag he truly is.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  13. #5 I’m going to blame bureaucracy and process rather than some petty crap from Trump. Not because Trump isn’t petty, but because it would be too much work for President LePetomane

    Kevin M (19357e) — 11/22/2019 @ 12:57 pm

    This.

    Also I blame bureaucracy over Trump’s complaint about his picture in Kyiv too.

    whembly (c30c83)

  14. First off, how exactly does one give the WH access to one’s personal Twitter account? Let them change the password on you? And what reason would they have?

    Second, what’s to keep him from starting up a new personal Twitter account? If need be, he could start off by calling himself Moustache Delecto and change the name later.

    Kevin M (19357e) — 11/22/2019 @ 12:57 pm

    Possibly a combination…bureaucratic pettiness emboldened by the knowledge that Fearless Leader wouldn’t mind it at all if a nonfavorite was inconvenienced.

    Kishnevi (9a5a41)

  15. Takes a heckuva guy to make a career out of having our best and brightest die for neocon economics. Bolton is a pos.

    mg (8cbc69)

  16. On the way in, it’s “this guy’s got what it takes”, on the way out, it’s pos.

    Do you guys even hear yourselves?

    Kevin M (19357e)

  17. What I see is yet another guy who finds that he cannot help his country and Trump at the same time.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  18. What’s the Hawaiian version of applejack, mg?

    nk (dbc370)

  19. Doesn’t Bolton support the idea of a strong Executive Branch? Perhaps he’s trying not to criticize that principle even though he thinks its current application is being done in an especially dimwitted and incompetent way.

    Kishnevi (9a5a41)

  20. What I’m wondering is why it’s taking so long for a judge to decide whether or Bolton and that other guy should testify before Congress.
    Changing subjects. Today’s IG report means that the last thing that adoring Trump loyalists can hope for is whatever Durham comes up with. The key conclusions as I saw them:
    1. Political bias did not taint top officials running the FBI investigation.
    2. The Carter Page FISA application had a “proper legal and factual basis, and, more broadly, that FBI officials did not act improperly in opening the Russia investigation.” This basically clears Comey, McCabe, Strzok (except for his fling with that gal) and other DOJ folks targeted by Trump & Co.
    3. Sloppy procedures (Horowitz is recommending stronger internal oversight).
    4. A “low-level FBI lawyer” altered a document and was fired.

    Paul Montagu (00daa1)

  21. Today’s IG report for those who, like me, have used up their monthly limit of WaPo access. I’m assuming it’s the same report anyway, otherwise somebody might suspect you might be referring to what somebody says the report says rather than to the report itself.

    Jerryskids (702a61)

  22. More from Bolton:

    In full disclosure, the @WhiteHouse never returned access to my Twitter account. Thankyou to @twitter for standing by their community standards and rightfully returning control of my account.

    Dana (cb74ca)

  23. I’m getting that that’s the reaction from adoring Trump loyalists, Jerry. It’s cute.

    Paul Montagu (561c44)

  24. CNN Exclusive: Giuliani associate willing to tell Congress Nunes met with ex-Ukrainian official to get dirt on Biden

    A lawyer for an indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani tells CNN that his client is willing to tell Congress about meetings the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee had in Vienna last year with a former Ukrainian prosecutor to discuss digging up dirt on Joe Biden.

    The attorney, Joseph A. Bondy, represents Lev Parnas, the recently indicted Soviet-born American who worked with Giuliani to push claims of Democratic corruption in Ukraine. Bondy said that Parnas was told directly by the former Ukrainian official that he met last year in Vienna with Rep. Devin Nunes.
    “Mr. Parnas learned from former Ukrainian Prosecutor General Victor Shokin that Nunes had met with Shokin in Vienna last December,” said Bondy. …..

    Nunes is one of President Donald Trump’s key allies in Congress and has emerged as a staunch defender of the President during the impeachment inquiry, which he has frequently labeled as a “circus.” Nunes declined repeated requests for comment.

    Bondy tells CNN that his client and Nunes began communicating around the time of the Vienna trip. Parnas says he worked to put Nunes in touch with Ukrainians who could help Nunes dig up dirt on Biden and Democrats in Ukraine, according to Bondy. ……

    Rip Murdock (ff876c)

  25. Imagine that. The Trump White House requires senior officials to allow their Twitter accounts to be managed. Except for one. I wonder if the VP is exempted, too. Probably not; in the same box with his balls.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  26. #21: The front page of the WaPo doesn’t change much.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  27. Imagine that. The Trump White House requires senior officials to allow their Twitter accounts to be managed.

    I wonder if there’s droit du seigneur, too.

    nk (dbc370)

  28. Probably not; in the same box with his balls.

    That’s the possible downside of Trump’s removal. Pence is proof positive that humans evolved from invertebrates. Somebody will accuse him of having had an overdue library book when he was sixteen, he’ll immediately resign, and Nancy Pelosi will be President.

    nk (dbc370)

  29. Yeah, that’s impeachable.

    Darth Chocolate (0615d0)

  30. A sun fried midwesterner, nk.

    mg (8cbc69)

  31. What did I just say a week ago? Trump would want his picture up on billboards in every city? Even though that sounds crazy it came a little closer to reality today.

    He is complaining that the Ambassador to Ukraine did not hang his picture at the embassy for a while. Even ignoring that it’s not her fault that the pictures didn’t arrive, what president in their right mind would be worried about such a thing much less publicly blame it on the ambassador?

    And who told him about it? That would really be interesting to know.

    noel (ac9aa3)

  32. Walter Schaub:

    Fiona Hill — upheld her oath
    Marie Yovanovitch — upheld her oath
    Bill Taylor — upheld his oath
    Alexander Vindman — upheld his oath
    George Kent — upheld his oath
    David Holmes — upheld his oath
    Laura Cooper — upheld her oath

    John Bolton — got his little Twitter account back

    Paul Montagu (00daa1)

  33. Nobody loves a Judas.

    nk (dbc370)

  34. I have a hard time caring what Bolten says or doesn’t say. He was a bad fit for the Trump Foreign Policy team. My impression is that Trump has an executive management style (carried over from his business) of surrounding himself with “No Men”. People who are “High Quality” or “Experts” who disagree with Trump on most issues. The idea is they will provide a check on his decision making and prevent him from going to far in his favored direction.

    Unfortunately, it completely ignores the fact that in the White HOuse – as opposed to Business – disloyal employees can cause massive damage by leaking or undercutting the President by obstructing his decisions. Bolten, like many of the diplomats/NSC Types on display this week, decided he knew more than the President, and had no desire to salute, say “yes sir”, and do his damnest to carry out Trump’s orders. Instead, he did the opposite.

    rcocean (1a839e)

  35. Another odd thing about the list of witnesses this week was the number of immigrants and children of immigrants in our foreign service and NSC. Is this another job that native Americans won’t do?

    rcocean (1a839e)

  36. What did I just say a week ago? Trump would want his picture up on billboards in every city? Even though that sounds crazy it came a little closer to reality today.

    In Zaire, Trump’s fellow kleptocratic nepotist with a personality cult, Mobutu Sese Seko, had the state television news broadcasts begin every day with an image of the clouds parting to reveal his face, and “The Savior of the People” descending through them like a god.

    There’s little doubt that Trump considers this his due as well…

    Dave (1bb933)

  37. My impression is that Trump has an executive management style (carried over from his business) of surrounding himself with “No Men”. People who are “High Quality” or “Experts” who disagree with Trump on most issues. The idea is they will provide a check on his decision making and prevent him from going to far in his favored direction.

    ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

    nk (dbc370)

  38. Nobody loves a Judas.

    And yet if Jesus had lived out his days in peace and died of old age, where would humanity be, in the Christian narrative?

    c.f. Nikos Kazantzakis

    Dave (1bb933)

  39. …Trump has an executive management style (carried over from his business) of surrounding himself with “No Men”…

    Like Barr?

    Paul Montagu (050bb6)

  40. ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

    More to the point, here’s the bizarre cabinet meeting where he gave his lackeys the opportunity to fawn over him in front of the TV cameras…

    Dave (1bb933)

  41. did his people make the decision to refuse Bolton access without Trump’s knowledge, thus making the president look unaware

    Probably no decision was made. This sounds like the kind of thing that was on autopilot, and may have happened because Bolton left office so suddenly.

    What may have happened was that when he went to the White House, the password on his account was changed to on =e he didn’t know, or two-factor security was installed and Bolton did not have time to change the settings while he still could use it. Then he faced a bureaucracy. his was actually his personal account, and not a government account, it might have been lined in some way for archiving purposes and maybe was getting potentially secret or confidential direct messages.

    Sammy Finkelman (2f76f3)

  42. In the testimony last week, I learned why it was that Bolton spoke about Sondland and Mulvaney cooking up a drug deal.

    I’m not clear on the facts. One verson s=sis that Bolton was discussing a possible meeting between Zelensky and Trump and Sondland interjected that Mulvaney had told him that would not take place until Ukraine agreed to (some sort of) investigations. It is said that when this happened Bolton abruptly ended the meeting, but it has also been said that this occurred as the meeting was drawing to a close, and it had to end because someone was leaving.

    That doesn’t seem to be complete. Actually there were two meetings. One ended as planned, and then they went out onto the White House lawn for pictures, and then reassembled informally somewhere else. (at first Sondland and the Ukrainians were milling around the Situation Room, then Sondland took them to a room in basement of the White House.)

    Bolton told Fiona Hill (his then Europe and Russia expert, who was leaving her position soon) to follow them and see what was going on. Fiona Hill then heard Sondland telling the Ukrainians that they could have a White House meeting when they agreed to investigations. She cut him off and said that any meeting would have to go through proper channels.

    When she reported that back to John Bolton, John Bolton told Fiona Hill to tell John Eisenberg, the top NSC lawyer, that he was not part of whatever “drug deal” Mulvaney and Sondland were cooking up.

    Sammy Finkelman (2f76f3)

  43. John Bolton probably could have started an entirely new Twitter account (unless there’s a problem with having more than one but I think there isn’t) but he didn’t want to.

    The White House did not co-operate. He had to get it back from Twitter. It probably was more difficult, and took him longer, than he had thought. He probably had somebody helping him. They must have had to get Twitter to override or ignore the two-factor authentication or whatever. They had to get in touch with humans, too.

    It could be that this happened because of the suddenness of his leaving. Although he had offered his resignation (he says) the night before, Trump said they would talk about it the next day. Things went on otherwise as usual, and he had a scheduled event. Then Trump fired him by tweet.

    Sammy Finkelman (2f76f3)


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