"This is the time to speak up": John Bolton lauds Bill Barr for standing up to Trump
03 December 2020
John Bolton says Attorney General Bill Barr has done more to undercut President Trump's baseless assertions about Democrats stealing the election than most Senate Republicans by saying publicly that the Justice Department has yet to see widespread fraud that could change the election's outcome.
What he's saying: “He stood up and did the right thing," Bolton said in a Wednesday phone interview.
- "He told the truth: we don't find any evidence of vote-flipping algorithms, for God's sakes. If there's evidence, let's see it. Why can't we see the evidence? Because they don't have any, is the answer. This is the time to speak up."
Trump has been ranting about Barr's AP interview behind the scenes and has privately floated replacing Barr, as we reported last night. But it’s unclear whether he will follow through with that.
Between the lines: Former White House Counsel Don McGahn used to refer to Trump — not to his face of course — as "King Kong" when he blew up about the news or a meeting that didn't go his way.
- One official told Axios that they expected "King Kong" was "swinging from the drapes" after that interview.
- A DOJ spokesperson said Barr was at the White House for a previously scheduled meeting.
Worth noting: Bolton, who has become one of Trump's largest — and loudest — critics, is still battling with the Trump administration over a lawsuit alleging the former national security adviser published classified information in his recent memoir, violating nondisclosure agreements he signed with the White House.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.