Some noteworthy new information in the Ukraine situation

I still hold to the view that, given that there are two aspects to the overall situation - how Joe Biden behaved toward Ukraine as Vice President and how Trump has been behaving toward Ukraine more recently, and given that hot takes meant to defend the turf of each party's tribalists based on incomplete information come pouring in with each revelation or seeming revelation, firm conclusions are still out of our grasp.

But Trump telling Mulvaney to hold up on the aid, and telling Zelensky to work with his personal attorney don't smell good at all. And someone of the foremost integrity, John Bolton, felt like this was no way to proceed:

Former White House national security adviser John Bolton reportedly pushed President Trump to release military aid to Ukraine that the administration withheld until earlier this month.

At least a week before Trump is said to have pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a July 25 phone call to work with his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani to investigate Joe Biden's son, Hunter, who did business in Ukraine while his father was vice president, the president ordered his acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney to place a hold the $400 million in funds, according to the Washington Post.

Trump says he was concerned about "corruption" in Ukraine and a senior administration official denied there was any "quid pro quo" to withhold the money unless Ukraine agreed to investigate Trump's potential rival in the 2020 election.

But other officials in Trump's administration were alarmed, partly because they were worried the block might be illegal. Bolton advocated for the release of the money to help Ukraine counter Russian-backed separatists in the eastern part of the country and a meeting between Trump and Zelensky.

Bolton is said to be shopping around for a book deal. Now, there's one that instantly goes on my to-read list.