Neocon war hawk John Bolton has admitted that he “has helped plan coup d’état” in foreign countries.
Bolton, the former National Security official in multiple administrations, came clean during a shocking exchange on CNN with Jake Tapper.
During the exchange, Bolton appeared to gloat, arguing that “it takes a lot of work” to orchestrate a coup.
Bolton wouldn’t go into detail but he was seemingly talking about an unsuccessful attempt to remove Venezuela’s socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro from office.
Bolton has been neck-deep in the D.C. swamp for a long time so this is quite an admission.
The comments came after Bolton told CNN’s Jake Tapper that the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol was “not an attack on American democracy” but instead a “once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.”
Bolton claimed that while there was “no doubt” that President Donald Trump was responsible for unleashing rioters at the Capitol, the effort wasn’t meant to “overthrow the Constitution.”
Instead, it was an attempt to bide time to challenge 2020 election results in states he had lost, Bolton argued.
Tapper told Bolton: “One doesn’t have to be brilliant to attempt a coup.”
Bolton: “I disagree with that.
“As somebody who has helped plan coup d’etat, not here, but other places, it takes a lot of work.”
Tapper then follows up on Bolton’s past coup planning.
Bolton: “I’m not going to get into the specifics, but–”
Tapper: “Successful coups?”
Tapper: “I feel like there’s other stuff you’re not telling me.”
WATCH:
Jake Tapper: "One doesn’t have to be brilliant to attempt a coup."
John Bolton: "I disagree with that. As somebody who has helped plan coup d’etat, not here, but other places, it takes a lot of work." pic.twitter.com/REyqh3KtHi
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) July 12, 2022
From Axios:
The intrigue: Although Bolton said he wouldn’t go “into specifics” on which countries he’d assisted coups in, he noted that he’d written in his book about efforts in Venezuela to end Nicolás Maduro’s regime that “turned out not to be successful — not that we had all that much to do with it.”
“But I saw what it took for an opposition to try and overturn an illegally elected president, and they failed,” Bolton said.
“The notion that Donald Trump was half as competent as the Venezuelan opposition is laughable.”
Jake Tapper follows up on John Bolton’s past coup planning.
Bolton: “I’m not going to get into the specifics, but–”
Tapper: “Successful coups?”
Bolton brings up the failed Venezuelan coup, prompting Tapper to add: “I feel like there’s other stuff you’re not telling me.” pic.twitter.com/bJAa07h8Ow
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) July 12, 2022
