Brainchild of the conservative group Republicans for the Rule of Law [RRL], the truck directed onlookers to their website advocating President Donald Trump’s ouster from office so he may be replaced by Vice President Mike Pence. Emblazoned on the site’s homepage is the tagline “Pence: Well, I Guess He’ll Do.”
“Removing President Trump from office wouldn’t undo the 2016 election,” said Republicans for the Rule of Law spokesperson Tim Miller in a statement sent to Newsweek. “The same voters and electors who chose President Trump also chose Vice President Pence. That’s why we’re reminding Republicans that they should not fear a fair trial, because even if Trump is removed that still leaves them with President Pence which is… not bad, I guess?”
“So let’s stop hiding from the facts. Let [former National Security Adviser John] Bolton testify,” the statement continued. “Let the chips fall where they may. In the end, we might just have President Mike Pence. It could be worse.”
Newsweek reached out to RRL for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
RRL has been both vocal and visible about their point of view that witnesses be allowed to testify in the Senate impeachment trial. In January, the group bought advertising time during Fox News programming calling for Senate Republicans to allow Bolton’s testimony.
“He’s willing to do his duty to tell the truth,” the advertisement said. “Are Senate Republicans willing to do their duty to listen?”
The possibility of Bolton’s testimony has been the subject of renewed speculation after The New York Times reported on sections of Bolton’s upcoming book, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir.
In Bolton’s book, he says that President Trump told Bolton he specifically held up millions of dollars in security aid to Ukraine until the country announced criminal investigations into both former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
If true, Bolton’s claims could bolster the position of the Democratic Party which claims that Trump’s request was a quid pro quo and therefore an impeachable offense.
Trump’s legal defense team has repudiated that point of view. Attorney Alan Dershowitz said Monday that Trump’s behavior did not rise to the level of impeachability.
“If a president, any president, were to have done what the Times reported about the content of the Bolton manuscript, that would not constitute an impeachable offense. Let me repeat. Nothing in the Bolton revelations, even if true, would rise to the level of an abuse of power or an impeachable offense,” Dershowitz told the Senate.
