Former Trump adviser John Bolton admits to planning foreign coups
'It takes a lot of work,' Bolton says during CNN interview
John Bolton, former President Donald Trump's national security adviser, admitted Tuesday that he was involved in planning coups in foreign countries.
Bolton made the stunning revelation during an interview with CNN anchor Jake Tapper while discussing the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol building by Trump’s supporters, noting it is wrong to claim that Trump orchestrated a “carefully planned coup d’état against the Constitution” on that date.
In his remarks, Bolton said Trump personally "doesn't listen to anybody else," adding "nothing Donald Trump did after the election in connection with the lie about the election fraud, none of it is defensible.”
"It’s also a mistake, as some people said, including on the committee, the commentators, that somehow this was a carefully planned coup d’état aimed at the Constitution. That’s not how Donald Trump does things," he said, referring to the House select committee investigating the events of Jan. 6.
"You have to understand the nature of what the problem of Donald Trump is. He’s -- to use a Star Wars metaphor -- a disturbance in The Force, and it’s not an attack on our democracy. It’s Donald Trump looking out for Donald Trump. It’s a once in a lifetime occurrence," Bolton continued.
But Tapper pushed back, saying he did not agree.
"One doesn’t have to be brilliant to attempt a coup," he said.
"I disagree with that," Bolton responded. "As somebody who has helped plan coup d’états, not here, but, you know, other places, it takes a lot of work. And that’s not what he did."
"It was just stumbling around from one idea to another. Ultimately, he did unleash the rioters at the Capitol. As to that, there’s no doubt. But not to overthrow the Constitution, to buy more time to throw the matter back to the states to try and redo the issue. And if you don’t believe that, you’re gonna overreact, and I think that’s a real risk for the committee," Bolton added.
Later in his remarks, he cited Venezuela as an example in his book, and said: "I wrote about (the coup in) Venezuela in the book, and it turned out not to be successful.”
On Jan. 6, 2021, when Congress convened to certify Electoral College votes of then-President-elect Joe Biden, a mob of Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol building.
Ensuing clashes left multiple people dead. Two law enforcement officers took their lives in the aftermath of the raid. Trump was accused of inciting deadly violence.
