Trump Impeachment Poll: More Americans Believe Bolton Over Trump, Want Him To Testify

The Bolton brouhaha keeps boiling over into a huge headache for president Donald Trump, with a new poll showing a majority of Americans still want the former national security adviser to testify at the ongoing Senate impeachment trial. This new poll also reveals most voters won't vote for senators that refuse to call Bolton to testify.

John Bolton was fired from his job in September 2019 because of many unspecified "differences" with Trump. He now threatens to become the "smoking gun" against Trump. Bombshell exposés in his new but unpublished book confirm Trump directly ordered him to keep withholding military aid to Ukraine unless that country launched an investigation into Joe Biden.

Bolton's book, “The Room Where It Happened; A White House Memoir,” is scheduled to be released March 17. It's now in danger of remaining under lock and key due to threats from Trump and his administration.

Democrat impeachment managers want Bolton to testify at the impeachment trial -- and most American voters agree with them. The Senate will vote Friday on whether to allow new witnesses.

A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll reveals 55 percent, or a clear majority of registered voters, now want to hear Bolton’s testimony. This is an increase of two percent from the previous Yahoo News/YouGov poll conducted before the Bolton news broke on January 26. Only 29 percent of registered voters don’t want Bolton to reveal the truth.

The new poll conducted Jan. 28 and 29 surveyed the same 1,200 voters as the earlier poll to gauge how views on impeachment shifted since January 26. It found that among these same voters surveyed both before and after the Bolton revelations, 23 percent of those that initially said the Senate shouldn't call new witnesses changed their minds.

Of this group, 11 percent now say the Senate should call new witnesses while 12 percent say they’re not sure. Sixteen percent have moved in the opposite direction on witnesses, from “yes” to “no” or “not sure.”

Moreover, 45 percent said they believed Bolton's claims and only 39 percent said they believed Trump.

The new poll also confirms Americans' mistrust of Trump. Fifty-three percent of respondents still say Trump abused his power as president while 43 percent hold the opposite opinion. On the other hand, 44 percent of voters want Trump removed from office as against 46 percent that say otherwise.

Registered voters in states with 2020 Senate elections were asked if their senator’s decision to vote against calling new witnesses will make them more or less likely to vote for that senator on Election Day. The poll shows 45 percent of respondents say “less likely.” Only 21 percent said the opposite.

A separate YouGov poll conducted January 28 asked the question: "Former national security adviser John Bolton reportedly said in an unpublished manuscript that President Donald Trump told him that he wanted to freeze security aid to Ukraine until the country's officials announced investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden. President Trump has denied this. Do you believe Bolton is telling the truth, or Trump?"

Forty-two percent of respondents said Bolton is telling the truth while 21 percent said Trump is telling the truth. Four percent said both are telling the truth; eight percent say neither is telling the truth while 25 percent don't know.