A month ago a member of the committee
vetting John Bolton, a supporter of Bolton's, said publicly, “We have
the votes.”
I knew that meant Bolton would be voted out of committee, even though it took a month.
I've worked in politics over decades and I've worked as a vote counter. A vote counter has an ethical obligation, much like a corporate treasurer, to be 100% accurate. So when I see a public statement about a pending vote count, I take it seriously. I don't ever remember an announced “We have the votes” count that was wrong.