Thread by @weareoversight

For this #FOIAFriday, we’re discussing allegations made in John Bolton’s new book that have prompted widespread press coverage.

What did we know before? How can FOIA requests and lawsuits uncover more about the alleged corruption and malpractice in the Trump administration?

Bolton claims Trump:
-asked China’s president for reelection help & stopped sanctions to save ZTE
-had corrupt dealings with Turkey’s president
-ignored 8+ internal pushes to release Ukraine aid
-wanted to oust Venezuela's president
-diverted attention from "the Ivanka thing"

First, China. Bolton claims that in 2019, Trump asked Chinese President Xi for electoral help. Trump reportedly said that if China made increased agricultural purchases from the US, he would have a better chance of winning reelection.

washingtonpost.com/politics/trump…

Bolton is not the first to allege that Trump asked China for reelection aid. In October 2019, CNN reported that Trump suggested China investigate Joe Biden and son Hunter during the same call that the leaders discussed trade.

cnn.com/2019/10/03/pol…

Based on the previous reporting, we filed multiple #FOIAs with State, USTR, Commerce, and Treasury regarding White House efforts to encourage China to investigate Trump’s political rivals.

americanoversight.org/documents?fwp_…

Through our USTR FOIA request, we obtained documents that show repeated engagement between United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Trump’s China advisor Michael Pillsbury, who reportedly returned from China with info on the Bidens.

washingtonpost.com/business/econo…

The documents show contact between senior USTR leadership and Pillsbury before his China trip and interest in meeting after he returned.

Bolton's book also raises concerns that Trump improperly interfered with trade restrictions against Chinese telecom company ZTE at Xi’s request.

In April 2018, Commerce announced sanctions against ZTE after discovering it was violating the terms of a 2017 legal settlement.

Xi reportedly asked Trump to intervene. In June 2018, Trump announced he had agreed to lift the restrictions against ZTE.

We FOIA’d Commerce, USTR, and Treasury for communications between agency officials and White House personnel about ZTE.

americanoversight.org/documents?fwp_…

Next, Bolton highlights Trump’s corrupt dealings with Turkish President Erdogan, including Trump’s alleged assurance to Erdogan that he would “take care of things” in the federal criminal investigation of Turkish state-owned bank, Halkbank.

abcnews.go.com/Politics/bolto…

In January 2020, we started our investigation of the Trump administration’s efforts on behalf of Halkbank. We’ve FOIA’d the State Department, Treasury, and DOJ regarding the potential White House interference in the Halkbank case.

americanoversight.org/investigation/…

We also have investigated Trump’s potential personal connections to Erdogan’s family, notably through son-in-law Jared Kushner and the Trump Org. We FOIA’d the State Department and DOD to learn more.

americanoversight.org/documents?fwp_…

Bolton also adds to the already extensive record on Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. Bolton alleges that he, Secretary of State Pompeo, and Secretary of Defense Esper tried 8-10 times to get Trump to release aid to Ukraine in late August.

Emails released through our FOIA litigation bolster this claim. The records show Bolton, Pompeo, and Esper all thought aid should continue to Ukraine but “Final decision rests with POTUS.”

documentcloud.org/documents/6790…

We've already highlighted the remaining unanswered questions related to senior officials' involvement in Ukraine matters and how our litigation and requests can help answer those questions.

americanoversight.org/the-ukraine-in…

Next, Bolton alleges that Trump wanted to oust Venezuelan President Maduro because of political interests in Florida, but (plot twist!) Russian president Vladimir Putin later persuaded Trump of Maduro's virtues.

slate.com/news-and-polit…

We've been investigating a range of foreign policy issues related to Venezuela, including reported outside influences and backchannels on U.S.-Venezuela diplomacy.

americanoversight.org/documents?fwp_…

Finally, John Bolton’s book alleges Trump defended the Saudi Prince over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi to distract from a story about Ivanka Trump’s use of personal email for government business.

In 2018, our FOIA requests uncovered some of her personal email use.

Last week, messages we obtained got renewed attention after former White House ethics chief Walter Shaub highlighted our work on social media.

huffpost.com/entry/walter-s…

Here’s his original thread:

https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/1273396015903789056?s=20

The fact that John Bolton had this information and failed to testify to Congress during the impeachment process remains deeply troubling — but we will continue to use FOIA, and go to court when necessary, to uncover the truth.

americanoversight.org/american-overs…