Late night hosts don't see how GOP senators can still refuse to call John Bolton as an impeachment witness

Late night hosts on Bolton&#039;s bombshell

last updated 28 January 2020

President Trump's lawyers made their case in Monday's Senate impeachment trial, Trevor Noah said on Monday's Daily Show. "And it basically boils down to this: One, this is just a political attack by the Democrats; two, Trump did nothing wrong; and three, there are no first-hand witnesses who spoke to Trump about a quid pro quo." He was impressed with the brazenness of complaining "about having no eyewitnesses when you're the ones blocking the eyewitnesses."

But "right in the middle of Team Trump making that argument about witnesses," Noah said, we learned that if willing first-hand witness John Bolton testifies, "he would say that Trump personally told him that he wanted to hold up aid to Ukraine until he got dirt on the Bidens — which is the whole thing! This is the heart of the entire impeachment thing. So I don't know how Senate Republicans can justify not hearing from Bolton now." Also bad for Trump, Lev Parnas just joined the "insane number of people who are secretly recording him," he added. "At this point, we have enough tapes to produce an album," and they did.

Seriously, "how is possible that so many people have secret recordings of the president?" Seth Meyers asked at Late Night. "Trump was so worried about Obama spying on him, he failed to notice that everyone else was. This is why it's so crucial that the Senate vote to allow new evidence to be considered in the impeachment trial, because almost every day new evidence emerges," including Bolton's bombshell.

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"These allegations are the most disturbing thing to come from John Bolton's lips since his mustache," James Cordon joked at The Late Late Show. But Bolton's bombshell "just goes to show you that sometimes, political figures will have the moral courage to go against their party, as long as its perfectly timed with the release of a book." The new information "put a ton of pressure on Republican senators to call Bolton and other witnesses to testify," he added. "They're still not going to, but the pressure!" Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.