Ex-Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly: ‘If John Bolton Says That in the Book I Believe John Bolton’

Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly has taken sides with former National Security Adviser John Bolton over President Donald Trump, saying that he believes the allegations in Bolton’s book that Trump has publicly denied.

Even as Trump loudly denies Bolton’s allegations — reportedly written in his upcoming book — that Trump told him aid to Ukraine was contingent on investigations of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, Kelly told a crowd in Sarasota that he believes Bolton.

“If John Bolton says that in the book I believe John Bolton,” Kelly told the crowd at a town hall event, when asked about the Bolton allegations.

“Every single time I was with him … he always gave the president the unvarnished truth,” Kelly added, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

He also went on to say that witnesses should be allowed at Trump’s impeachment trial:

Asked about the passages in Bolton’s book — which has yet to be released — that appear to reinforce the impeachment allegations, Kelly said Monday evening that “John’s an honest guy. He’s a man of integrity and great character, so we’ll see what happens.”

There are growing calls for Bolton to testify in the Senate impeachment trial, something GOP leaders have resisted. Kelly said he supports calling witnesses during the trial.

“I mean half of Americans think this process is purely political and shouldn’t be happening but since it is happening the majority of Americans would like to hear the whole story,” Kelly said.

“So I think if there are people that could contribute to this, either innocence or guilt … I think they should be heard,” Kelly said, adding: “I think some of the conversations seem to me to be very inappropriate but I wasn’t there. But there are people that were there that ought to be heard from.”

On Monday, Trump categorically denied telling Bolton that aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations of the Bidens.

Watch a portion of Kelly’s talk above via WTSP.