Bolton has every reason to testify. As a lawyer himself, he knows the White House claims of absolute immunity are frivolous. When presented with a subpoena, I am confident he would appear, if only to appear as candid and patriotic as former subordinates Dr. Fiona Hill and Tim Morrison (due to testify next week) have been.

He certainly would be a vital witness given that his former subordinate Hill “spoke about what she described as a rogue operation carried out by US Ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, and White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, which Bolton characterized as being like a ‘drug deal.’” Bolton also reportedly told Hill to go talk to NSC lawyers.

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In addition, William B. Taylor Jr. said in his testimony, according to news reports, that Bolton was (understandably) concerned about the July 25 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Trump seemed to tie both a White House visit and aid to Zelensky’s cooperation in finding dirt on former vice president Joe Biden. Bolton would also know if aid had been held up, and be able to substantiate that Rudolph W. Giuliani was conducting a campaign-opposition scheme, not executing U.S. policy.

It is hard to imagine that Bolton would have a story at odds with so many witnesses, including Taylor, who took copious notes.

Bolton no doubt would be delighted to testify, and not only because Trump tried to make it seem as if he fired Bolton when Bolton announced his resignation. Bolton is an anti-Russian hawk from way back when, and I am confident the extortion of our ally Ukraine, fighting off Russian incursion, was blood-boiling. More generally, Bolton went to work for a man totally ignorant about the world, impervious to reason and so vain as to be manipulated by our enemies. Bolton certainly wants to make clear which side he was on during policy arguments (and perhaps reveal the degree of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s sycophancy, which amounted to never crossing Trump on anything).

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Trump does not care about history or his legacy, it seems. His narcissistic personality means he is certain of his greatness (“stable genius”). However, Bolton is another story. He actually does, from everything I know about Bolton, want to go down as the man who valiantly tried to defend U.S. interests against a corrupt, foolish and incompetent president.

Bolton knows full well that sinking Trump doesn’t mean Hillary Clinton would be president; Vice President Pence, a conventional conservative on foreign policy (when not acting as the apologist in chief for Trump) would take over. Bolton would expect Pence to end the pro-Russia, weak-on-North Korea foreign policy. In his heart of hearts, Bolton knows full well how dangerous Trump has become, especially under the sway of enablers like Pompeo and Attorney General William P. Barr, who’s jetting around the world to come up with the goods to substantiate a ludicrous conspiracy that contradicts our own intelligence community’s finding of Russian responsibility for interfering with the 2016 election.

Bolton’s testimony would certainly be dramatic. He was in the upper echelon of foreign policy advisers and, therefore, an eyewitness to all sorts of conversations. Moreover, conservative hawks like Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) will have a hard time dismissing Bolton, a hawk’s hawk, as part of the “deep state.” Bolton also has credibility with Trump’s base/Fox News viewers.

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Bolton’s testimony might even accelerate the impeachment process. The prospect of not just his deposition but public testimony might get Republicans thinking it is time to move on from Trump. Lucky for them, Pence is right there waiting for them to find their spines.