Trump’s National Security Advisor John Bolton’s Incredible Offer

        On Monday, September 10^th, National Security Advisor John Bolton made a speech where he said the US would do everything "to protect our citizens" and threatened sanctions against the International Criminal Court if it goes ahead with prosecutions against Americans. Founded in 2002, the International Criminal Court investigates and brings to justice people responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, intervening when national authorities cannot or will not prosecute. The US is among several nations that have not joined the court.

          In the speech given in Washington, Bolton said: "If the court comes after us, we will not sit quietly." And that the ICC “is dead to us.” ICC judges and prosecutors would be barred from entering the US and their funds in the US would be sanctioned. No one is going to mess with any US citizen.

          Couldn’t be clearer how he feels.

          So how does Trump’s self-abasing praise for Putin’s offer at the Helsinki summit last July square with Bolton’s claim that the US would do everything "to protect our citizens?"

           At the summit, Putin proposed what President Trump described as an “incredible offer,” Russia would be allowed to question certain U.S. officials it suspects of interfering in Russian affairs, like former Ambassador Michael McFaul and Bill Browder (who was mostly responsible for the Maginsky Act), whom Trump considered turning over to Putin’s FSB. Trump even seemed excited about the prospect, calling it an "interesting idea."  

"The President's going to meet with his team and we'll let you know when we have an announcement on that," White House Spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.

        In speeches, interviews and op-eds, John Bolton has called Vladimir Putin a liar who aligns himself with America’s enemies, and whose country is a long-term strategic threat to the United States. So what was Bolton’s reaction to Trump finding Putin's offer "incredible" last July?

(Crickets)

        It was left to Sarah Sanders to respond. “It is a proposal that was made in sincerity by President Putin, but President Trump disagrees with it," Sanders said in a statement. It took Trump four days until he finally "disagreed with it." How do we even know Trump disagrees with this proposal, especially since it was made to him in sincerity and he originally said it was an incredible offer? Trump should tell us what was incredible about it. Of course, Trump didn’t bother to verbally disavow it himself, nor would Sanders. Trump didn’t say, do, or tweet jacksh*t. Sanders just issued a statement. When that didn’t put out the raging firestorm it caused, the State Department sent out spokeswoman-apologist Heather Nauert to try to undo the damage by telling a reporter that Russia’s request is “absolutely absurd.” That shows how tough Bolton and the Trump administration can be.
BOLTON...
SAID...
NOTHING

        Bolton will defend U.S. citizens even against the world…as long as Trump isn’t trying to sell them out.

        This is why Bob Woodward’s observations about Trump are so critical. Trump is a very real threat to the safety and well-being of every American.