Draft of his book says Trump sought to keep aid to Ukraine frozen over Biden probe

WASHINGTONA draft of a forthcoming book from former national security adviser
John Bolton
alleges that President Trump told him in August that he wanted to keep aid to Ukraine frozen until the country aided investigations into Democrats, including former Vice President
Joe Biden
and his son. The development threatened to throw into turmoil the careful choreography of the Senate impeachment trial of Mr. Trump.Mr. Boltons claim, which was reported by the New York Times and confirmed by a lawyer for Mr. Bolton, goes to the heart of Democrats impeachment inquiry and contradicts the White Houses argument that the decision to hold up nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine wasnt related to the presidents push for investigations there. Democrats have said the president abused his power by leveraging aid approved by Congress to get a foreign leader to undertake actions that would benefit him politically.
Mr. Boltons lawyer, Charles Cooper, said he sent a copy of his manuscript to the National Security Council in December so it could be reviewed for classified information, adding that he did so on the assurance that the contents of the book wouldnt be disclosed to anyone not involved in that process.
It is clear, regrettably, from The New York Times article published today that the prepublication review process has been corrupted and that information has been disclosed by persons other than those properly involved in reviewing the manuscript, Mr. Cooper said.
News of the manuscripts claims comes on the eve of the defense teams second session on the Senate floor, in which it was expected to present the bulk of its argument. The White House didnt respond to requests for comment on Mr. Boltons description of his conversation with the president.
Mr. Trump has denied any connection between his decision to hold up the aid to Ukraine and the investigations he sought. I have never had a direct link between investigations and security assistance, he said in November.
Democrats immediately intensified their calls for the Senate to vote in favor of calling more witnesses later this week, chief among them Mr. Bolton, who has said he would testify if he were subpoenaed by the Senate. Details of what Mr. Bolton might say could sway the four Republican senators who have said they are on the fence about the vote in favor of more testimony. If all Democrats vote in favor, they would need four Republicans to join them for the vote to pass.
It is now up to four Senate Republicans to support bringing in Mr. Bolton… as well as the key documents we have requested to ensure all the evidence is presented at the onset of a Senate trial, said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. Democrats have also wanted to bring in acting White House chief of staff
Mick Mulvaney
and two other witnesses.
The White House has sought to block testimony by Mr. Bolton and the other witnesses on the Democrats list.
Mr. Trump said in a news conference last week that testimony by Mr. Bolton would be a national security problem and added: I dont know if we left on the best of terms. I would say probably not.
Mr. Boltons book also includes details of cabinet officials discussions about Ukraine and about
Rudy Giuliani,
the presidents personal attorney who led the campaign for investigations in Ukraine, according to the New York Times. Mr. Bolton wrote that Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo
said privately that Mr. Giulianis claims that the ambassador to Ukraine was corrupt werent true, and that he shared his concerns about Mr. Giuliani with Attorney General
William Barr
after the presidents July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky,
in which Mr. Trump urged his Ukrainian counterpart to work with both Messrs. Giuliani and Barr on investigations, the Times said. Mr. Bolton wrote that he told the attorney general Mr. Trump had invoked him on the call.
A Justice Department official familiar with the matter said Mr. Bolton did call Mr. Barr to express concerns about Mr. Giuliani and his shadow foreign policy in Ukraine. It wasnt clear what, if anything, the attorney general did with that information.
Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec denied that Mr. Barr learned of the Ukraine call from Mr. Bolton. The department has repeatedly said he learned about it in mid-August.
The alleged conversation between the president and Mr. Bolton also sheds more light on an exchange that took place later in August between Mr. Bolton and Sen. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.). According to Mr. Johnson, Mr. Bolton urged him to call Mr. Trump directly about the Ukraine aid matter. Mr. Johnson spoke to Mr. Trump on Aug. 31 and asked the president if the aid to Ukraine was contingent on new investigations by Ukraine. Mr. Trump responded by vehemently denying that that was the case, Mr. Johnson said.
News of Mr. Boltons claims shook the White House, where several top advisers hadnt read the manuscript. As of late Sunday evening, the press office hadnt yet decided whether to issue a statement on the matter.
In their first day of arguments on Saturday, the presidents lawyers argued for two hours that Democrats had failed to make a compelling case and were relying on circumstantial evidence to conclude that the Republican president had conditioned aid to Ukraine on investigations that could benefit him politically. Mr. Boltons manuscript would provide a first-person account of the president doing precisely that.
Among other matters, the presidents team was expected to argue on Monday that Mr. Trump was right to press Ukraine to investigate Mr. Biden, a Democratic candidate for president, and his son, Hunter, the person familiar with the discussions said. They will argue that it was corrupt for the younger Mr. Biden to serve on the board of a Ukrainian gas company while his father as vice president was overseeing U.S. efforts to combat corruption in Ukraine. No evidence has emerged of wrongdoing by either Mr. Biden or his son, though Hunter Biden has said serving on the companys board while his father worked on anticorruption efforts showed poor judgment.
Republican lawmakers have echoed the presidents calls for an investigation into the Bidens, which Democrats say amount to an effort by the White House to enlist a foreign countrys help in interfering in this years election.
The presidents team plans to present arguments Monday beginning at 1 p.m. EST and likely wrapping up by about 8 p.m., according to a person familiar with the discussions.
Constitutional law professor Alan Dershowitz and former independent counsel
Kenneth Starr
will likely speak Monday, the person said. Depending on how the session goes, the team may not use its session on Tuesday, the last day it has to make arguments before senators begin their questioning.
If the Senate votes against calling more witnesses, it would proceed soon afterward to a vote on whether to convict or acquit the president. Mr. Trump faces little prospect of conviction, which requires a two-thirds majority of senators to remove him from office.
*Includes two independents that caucus with the Democrats
The president told aides he was pleased with his teams presentation Saturday, but over the weekend he lobbed insulting nicknames at top Democrats. He was in particular rebuked by Democrats on Sunday for a tweet he issued about Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), the lead House impeachment manager,, The president said of Mr. Schiff, he has not paid the price, yet, for what he has done to our Country.
Mr. Schiff on NBC called the president wrathful and vindictive and added: I dont think theres any doubt about it. And if you think there is, look at the presidents tweets about me today.
Separate from the trial, new information has continued to emerge about the presidents dealings with Ukraine. On Saturday, a lawyer for Lev Parnas, an associate of Mr. Giuliani, released a 90-minute recording that appeared to show Mr. Trump ordering the removal of the ambassador to Ukraine at a small 2018 dinner with donors.
Mr. Trump has denied knowing Mr. Parnas, who is under indictment for alleged campaign-finance violations, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
The former ambassador,
Marie Yovanovitch,
testified during the impeachment inquiry about her removal, which Democrats argued was designed to clear the way for the Ukraine pressure campaign. Republicans portrayed her testimony as largely irrelevant to the impeachment inquiry.
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
How do you think each party is utilizing the impeachment trial in the coming presidential election? Join the conversation below.
—Alex Leary contributed to this article.
Write to Rebecca Ballhaus at Rebecca.Ballhaus@wsj.com
Copyright ©2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8