Bolton says he doesn't have 'any second thoughts' about how he reported Trump's conduct

Nicolle Wallace and John Bolton.
(Image credit: Courtesy of MSNBC/Deadline: White House with Nicolle Wallace)

Former National Security Adviser John Bolton said he doesn't regret only warning a few people about the alleged misconduct he witnessed while serving in President Trump's White House.

During an interview with MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace on Thursday afternoon, Bolton said he "passed this information to the people I thought I should pass it to and I don't have any second thoughts about that."

Bolton voiced his concerns over how Trump was dealing with the leaders of Ukraine, China, and Turkey to Attorney General William Barr and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, and told Wallace having known Barr for more than 30 years, he believes he's "a man of integrity. I thought he would do his job."

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Cipollone led Trump's legal team during the Senate impeachment trial, when Trump was accused of pressuring the president of Ukraine to dig up damaging information on former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Bolton, who refused to testify during the House impeachment inquiry, defended his decision. "I don't march to Nancy Pelosi's drum," he said, and Democrats committed "impeachment malpractice" by not working closely with Republicans.

Wallace pressed Bolton on why he didn't tell more people his first-hand account of Trump's actions, instead holding onto the information and putting it in his new book, The Room Where It Happened. "I'm not into virtue signaling," he responded. Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.