John Bolton expressed alarm about shadow Ukraine policy, but at key moments, it’s unclear what he did to stop it

By Greg Jaffe, Greg Miller and Paul Sonne
11/6/2019, 12:23:57 p.m.

Former national security adviser John Bolton was the highest-ranking official in the White House who voiced opposition to the effort to pressure Ukraine, someone with ample authority and motivation to disrupt a shadow foreign policy he reportedly likened to a “drug deal.”

Yet Bolton, who has a reputation as one of the most ruthless bureaucratic warriors in Washington, seemed to find reasons to avoid intervening directly at some key moments in the scandal now threatening the Trump presidency, according to current and former U.S. officials and testimony in the impeachment inquiry. Bolton sent others to report concerns to National Security Council lawyers, but it is unclear whether he went himself. He skipped listening to the July 25 call between President Trump and the leader of Ukraine despite railing in the preceding weeks about the plan to compel Kyiv to open investigations that could help Trump in the 2020 election.

Even now, Bolton is expected to be a no-show for his appointment with impeachment investigators on Thursday, citing legal obstacles that did not impede former aides on the NSC.

As a result, Bolton’s role in the unfolding impeachment saga has become one of the most difficult to ascertain. His hard-line views about Russia, conservative bona fides and ignominious removal from the White House would seem to mark him as an eager and potentially devastating witness against the president. But, at the same time, he may have more to explain than other witnesses on whether he could have done more to stop a scheme he seemed to view as a shakedown.

Current and former U.S. officials said the perception inside the White House was that Bolton was deliberately seeking to protect himself from exposure to any fallout from the attempt to pressure Ukraine. ...

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