Lou Dobbs rails against ‘turncoat’ John Bolton, questions timing of book leaks in blistering rant

(Video screenshots from Fox News/VOA News)

Fox Business Network host Lou Dobbs did not hold his tongue while speaking Wednesday evening about former national security adviser John Bolton.

At least twice during that evening’s episode of “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” the outspoken FBN host blasted Bolton, first calling him a “turncoat” and then later labeling him a “petty, snarling Lilliputian.”

“It turns out John Bolton has been more of a turncoat than anyone realized, and much sooner than they knew,” he initially said during his opening monologue.

“A turncoat against the president who appointed him to serve in one of the highest positions of national security in any presidential administration.”

Listen:


(Source: Fox News)

Speaking later with Bolton’s former chief of staff, Fred Fleitz, he doubled down on his accusations as the two talked about Bolton’s widely publicized upcoming memoir.

Though Fleitz served under the then-Under Secretary of State of Arms Control from 2001 to 2005, he strongly opposes Bolton’s current plan to publish a memoir that details his experiences as President Donald Trump’s national security adviser.

“I believe he should withdraw this book,” he said to Dobbs. “I think the principle that a president should be able to speak candidly with his national security advisers … this is a very important principle to keep us safe. So, for this reason, I think this book really needs to be withdrawn.  I don’t think it should be published during this presidency, but at a minimum, it should be withheld until after the election.”

The FBN host responded by linking the timing of Bolton’s book to the Democrats’ ongoing impeachment push against the president.

“It’s clear what they are doing,” he said. “Let’s be straightforward here. The Democrats have only one interest, and that’s removing this president from office. This is their last desperate gambit. And the timing of this book … this is not an accident of any sort. I haven’t met anyone dumb enough to think this is coincidental, have you?”

Fleitz replied by suggesting that Dobbs should invite Bolton onto his show so that he can answer some questions about everything that’s been happening. And that was exactly when the FBN host unleashed the rest of his scathing attack.

“My guess is that Mr. Bolton would not even begin to think about it because he knows exactly how I would proceed with the questioning, and I can’t imagine that he would do so,” Dobbs replied, adding that he had told Bolton to “go to hell” months earlier.

As you well know, I told the man to go to hell months and months ago because of his disloyalty to this president. I think very little of the man that I once held in high regard because he has turned his back on his president and his obligations.

He added, “This president gave him an opportunity to serve in one of the highest offices in his administration, and he turns out to be a petty, snarling Lilliputian, and I really am astonished by it.”

Listen:


(Source: Fox News)

The discussion then pivoted to two other related matters:

One: A leaked letter sent to Bolton’s attorney in which a top National Security Council official warned that his book “appears to contain significant amounts of classified information” and is thus not ready for publication.

Two: A bombshell claim by House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Eliot Engel that last September, Bolton suggested he should investigate the president’s removal last spring of discredited former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.

“I think he has serious questions to answer about this book,” Fleitz argued. “Frankly, the developments today — this letter from the NSC about classification, and this statement by Engle — I find them extremely troubling. I think Ambassador Bolton has to answer for these things.”

The problem, as noted by Dobbs, is that Bolton doesn’t give a damn.

“He’s already been told by the National Security Council that he cannot proceed with certain top-secret information,” he said. “But apparently, given the earlier reports, he’s taken it up with various friends, associates and former colleagues in the national security community, which would seem on its face to be a violation of his obligations.”

Not to mention The New York Times, presumably, though it hasn’t been proven that Bolton was the one who leaked a draft copy of his own manuscript to the paper. However, the evidence strongly suggests that he’s the culprit.

Why would Bolton want such a leak?” Fox News’ Howard Kurtz rhetorically asked earlier this week. “He’s been volunteering to testify, if subpoenaed, to no avail. Once the book was published, Bolton would have faced a firestorm for staying silent and allowing the Senate to acquit Trump without sharing his crucial evidence.”

He would have been assailed as greedy for holding his explosive allegations until his book was out. This leak, whether he was complicit or not, gets him off the hook.

Kathleen Parker of The Washington Post said similarly in a column Tuesday, arguing that by leaking his book, “[h]e’s saving his legacy.”

But for who? Who is he “saving his legacy” for? He’s certainly not saving it for the likes of Dobbs and other outspoken Trump backers who find his behavior appalling.

In fact, the only ones benefiting from his “treachery” appear to be liberal Democrats and their allies among the mainstream media and the dwindling “Never Trump” community …

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Vivek Saxena

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