Former Trump adviser says he planned ‘coups’

Invited to comment on parliamentary committee hearings on the Capitol attack, former national security adviser in the Trump administration, John Bolton, assured on Tuesday that he was “involved in the planning of insurgencies” outside the United States.

Countering the assertion made by the presenter of the CNN channel that one “doesn’t have to be a smart person to attempt a rebellion”, Mr. Bolton replied in a natural tone: “I disagree. As someone who helped plan the coups, not here, but, you know, elsewhere, there’s a lot of work to be done.

John Bolton opined that the January 6, 2021 attack was not a coup attempt by Donald Trump, who was “just bouncing from one idea to another”.

Mr Bolton, known for his hawkish positions in diplomacy, served as the White House’s national security adviser in 2018 before being fired in September 2019 by the Republican president, who did not specify which coups he was referring to.

But he did mention Washington-backed opposition leader Juan Guido’s failed attempt to oust Nicolás Maduro from power in Venezuela in 2019.

Along with the neoconservatives, John Bolton has been very tough on Iran, Afghanistan and North Korea, most notably one of the architects of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Bolton’s comments come as the House’s so-called ‘January 6’ committee seeks to determine the role of Donald Trump and his cronies in the siege of the Capitol.