Was given more time to speak than John Bolton in Senate: Brad Pitt jokes about Trump impeachment trial

Actor Brad Pitt, who received his first Oscar during the 92nd Academy Awards, used his acceptance speech to take a snipe at the infamous impeachment trial of President Donald Trump in which former National Security Advisor John Bolton was allowed to testify in the Senate to fast track the proceedings.

The 56-year-old actor picked up an Acadamy Award in the Best Supporting Actor category on Sunday for his role in 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'.

"They told me I only have 45 seconds up here, which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton this week," Pitt quipped.

Democrats wanted Bolton to testify in the senate during the now-concluded trial after a report appeared in the New York Times (NYT) about the damaging claims Bolton allegedly makes about Trump in his forthcoming memoir.

According to NYT, Bolton claims in the book that Trump had said he wanted to withhold millions of dollars in aid to Ukraine until the country announced investigations into his political rivals.

While the White House is working to block publication of some aspects of the book, Trump has maintained the reported claims as untrue.

The trial was centered around a phone call between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. The Senate voted to acquit the president of two articles of impeachment last week after Senate Democrats did not get enough votes to request more witnesses in the trial.

Trump was accused of abusing his power by pressuring Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, who served on the board of a gas company in Ukraine, as Trump withheld USD 391 million in military aid that he later released.

The US President was also accused of subsequently obstructing a congressional probe into his actions.

The Republican Party holds a 53-47 majority in the Senate.