Report: Pelosi May Hold Impeachment Articles Until Agreement for Bolton to Testify

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) may continue to refuse to send the two articles of impeachment against the president to the Senate until an agreement is reached for former National Security Adviser John Bolton to testify.

This decision reportedly became more concrete after Bolton signaled that he would testify in the Senate impeachment trial in the event of a subpoena, according to Fox News reporter Chad Pergram.

Bolton on Monday signaled that he would, in fact, be willing to testify in an impeachment trial in the Senate.

“The House has concluded its constitutional responsibility by adopting articles of impeachment related to the Ukraine matter,” he said in a statement. He continued:

It now falls to the Senate to fulfill its constitutional obligation to try impeachments, and it does not appear possible that a final judicial resolution of the still-unanswered constitutional questions can be obtained before the Senate acts.

“Accordingly, since my testimony is once again at issue, I have had to resolve the serious competing issues as best I could, based on careful consideration and study,” he added.

“I have concluded that, if the Senate issues a subpoena for my testimony, I am prepared to testify,” he concluded.

Bolton is one of the two potential witnesses — the other White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney — that Democrats have been sparring with Republicans over.

However, Pergram reported on Monday that Pelosi is likely to hold the impeachment articles hostage until a final agreement is made. Bolton’s public willingness to testify may cause the Speaker to hold on to the articles even longer.

“Fox is told from one Dem source that Pelosi may continue to hold up the articles of impeachment…until there is an agreement…potentially and specifically for Bolton to testify in the Senate,” Pergram reported on Monday.

“If Bolton is willing to testify, she may not be willing to send over the articles,” he added:

Fox is told from one Dem source that Pelosi may continue to hold up the articles of impeachment…until there is an agreement…potentially and specifically for Bolton to testify in the Senate. If Bolton is willing to testify, she may not be willing to send over the articles.

— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 6, 2020

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had what was described as a “cordial” conversation with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on the parameters of the looming trial last month but said that they remained at an “impasse.” While McConnell signaled that Senate Republicans were open to impeachment witnesses, he also warned against rehashing the inquiry in the House and doing “House Democrats’ homework for them.”

The majority leader said last week that the Senate will continue with business as usual until the Speaker musters the courage to send the articles to the upper chamber.

He said on the Senate floor last week:

Their turn is over. They have done enough damage. It’s the Senate’s turn now — to render sober judgment as the framers envisioned. But we can’t hold a trial without the articles. The Senate’s own rules don’t provide for that. So, for now, we are content to continue the ordinary business of the Senate while House Democrats continue to flounder. For now.

“But if they ever muster the courage to stand behind their slapdash work product and transmit their articles to the Senate, it will be time for the United States Senate to fulfill our founding purpose,” he added.

Pelosi last week demanded the GOP Senate “immediately” hold an impeachment trial in a “manner worthy of the Constitution” but refused to indicate when she would transfer the articles of impeachment to the Senate.