Washington - John Bolton, former national security advisor to
US President Donald Trump, said Monday that he would comply with a
subpoena to testify in a Senate impeachment trial.
"I have concluded that, if the Senate issues a subpoena for my
testimony, I am prepared to testify," Bolton said in a statement on
his website.
The announcement is a major boost to US Democrats who have called for
key administration witnesses, including Bolton and acting White House
chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, to be summoned to testify in the
imminent impeachment trial in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Bolton's name came up repeatedly during the impeachment investigation
against Trump. Witnesses said he was aware of, and opposed to, the
backdoor pressure channel on Ukraine at the heart of the
investigation.
Bolton, who left his post in September, would be the highest-ranking
White House official to provide testimony about Trump's efforts to
pressure Ukraine to investigate Democratic political rival Joe Biden
while withholding nearly 400 million dollars in military aid to Kiev.
Former White House official Fiona Hill testified before the House
that Bolton called the backdoor channel a "drug deal" and told her to
notify lawyers for the Nationa Security Council.
Hill also said Bolton called Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani -
who was leading the backdoor channel - a "hand grenade that is going
to blow everybody up."