Former Trump adviser John Bolton admits to planning foreign coups

WASHINGTON (AA) – John Bolton, former President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, has admitted that he was involved in planning coups in foreign countries.

Bolton made the stunning revelation during an interview with CNN anchor Jake Tapper while discussing the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol building by Trump’s supporters, noting it is wrong to claim that Trump orchestrated a “carefully planned coup d’état against the Constitution” on that date.

“You have to understand the nature of what the problem of Donald Trump is. He’s — to use a Star Wars metaphor — a disturbance in The Force, and it’s not an attack on our democracy. It’s Donald Trump looking out for Donald Trump. It’s a once in a lifetime occurrence,” Bolton said.

But Tapper pushed back, saying he did not agree. “One doesn’t have to be brilliant to attempt a coup,” he said.

“I disagree with that,” Bolton responded. “As somebody who has helped plan coup d’états, not here, but, you know, other places, it takes a lot of work. And that’s not what he did.”

Later in his remarks, he cited Venezuela as an example in his book, and said: “I wrote about (the coup in) Venezuela in the book, and it turned out not to be successful.”

On Jan. 6, 2021, when Congress convened to certify Electoral College votes of then-President-elect Joe Biden, a mob of Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol building.

Ensuing clashes left multiple people dead. Two law enforcement officers took their lives in the aftermath of the raid. Trump was accused of inciting deadly violence.