John Bolton to Newsmax: ‘We Don’t Need Trump’s Baggage’

Former National Security Adviser and U.N. Ambassador John Bolton told Newsmax on Wednesday that he hasn’t made a decision yet about whether to enter the race for the Republican nomination, but he believes the Republican Party should focus on someone other than his former boss, Donald Trump.

“I think it’s very important that the Republican Party move beyond Donald Trump,” Bolton said while appearing on “John Bachman Now.” “History is going to take us beyond Trump one way or the other. If we make him our nominee, we will lose the 2024 election. We could lose both Houses of Congress, and we could lose control of the Supreme Court if the Democrat is elected and and fills any vacancies that occur.

“The stakes are too high here,” he added. “We don’t need Trump’s baggage, and I want to see if other contenders for the nomination make that point effectively. And I also want to see that they raise issues to the level they should be in this campaign.”

Regarding the criminal charges against former President Trump over his alleged handling of classified documents found at his Florida residence, Bolton said, “I think the most important thing that could happen, if it were possible, would be to ask every American to read the indictment against Trump. Read all 40-plus pages. If I or any other executive- branch officials were charged with the things that he has done in there, I think we probably would be in jail already.”

Bolton continued that the former president “is entitled to the presumption of innocence. He is entitled to all due process at trial, and the prosecution has to prove those allegations beyond a reasonable doubt. That’s a very heavy burden, and I think that the best thing we could hope for from the judge is to carry through and hold the speedy trial.”

“I think if you ask, ‘Where is the public interest here?’ It’s in getting an answer from the 12 jurors, one way or the other,” he said. “Do they convict Trump or do they not? And I believe a truly innocent person would say, ‘I want this stain on my reputation represented by this indictment removed as soon as we can. Let’s have a trial before the end of this year. Let’s get it done. I’m innocent. I want to prove it.’ We’ll see how President Trump responds.”

Bolton also weighed in on Special Counsel John Durham, who on Wednesday is testifying publicly before the House Judiciary Committee regarding the details of his report, which concluded that the FBI should have only launched a preliminary, not full, investigation into connections between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia during the 2016 election.

“In my experience, there are senior officials of the FBI who think they walk on water … and that kind of attitude is a severe problem and can lead to bias,” he said. “On the other hand, I would say that the average FBI special agent, the men and women who are out there on the bricks every day, are among the most patriotic Americans we have. The idea that you can characterize the entire FBI is a mistake and an insult to the character of most agents.”

Bolton also said that he believes FBI Director Christopher Ray has tried to do a good job. “I think he’s in a very difficult position.”

Asked about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Washington, D.C., this week, Bolton said, “I think we need to see a lot more progress from India. They’re the ones that have a common border with China. They’re the ones that have seen cross-border raids. They’re the ones that are most directly threatened by China’s nuclear weapons capability and China’s close relations with Russia.

“They’ve got to make a decision: Do they want to continue as a close friend of Russia? Do they think they can handle China on their own? Or do they want to join with others in the Indo-Pacific, to prevent the kind of threat we today see against Taiwan and in the South China Sea?”

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