Pelosi on Bolton: “I’m Not Paying Any Money for a Book That Was a Substitute for Testifying Before Congress”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had harsh words for President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton, whose tell-all book, The Room Where It Happened, has caused the president to lash out angrily during interviews and online.

“This is called a con,” Pelosi said, adding: “I’m not paying any money for a book that was a substitute for testifying before Congress,” a reference to Bolton’s refusal to testify during the House’s impeachment proceedings against the president. The Senate ultimately acquitted the president of any wrongdoing in his quid-pro-dealings with Ukraine; Bolton offered to testify before the Senate, a move Pelosi said Bolton knew would result in Republicans not issuing a subpoena or calling him as a witness.

Pelosi remained tight-lipped on whether Bolton’s claims will compel Democrats to issue a subpoena.

“We’ll be discussing how the American people are best served by oversight,” she said. “We’ll make a judgment.”

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“I have no regrets. I’m very proud of what we did,” she said of the House’s impeachment proceedings. She added that Bolton “knew the president should be removed from office. That’s clear. He does want to keep his ties to the right wing, so he does that by criticizing us. I place no value on that.”

You can watch a clip of Pelosi’s remarks below.

Alan Herrera

Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.