The White House attempts to ban a book written by former national security advisor John Bolton alleging it to containing damaging evidence against President Donald Trump and top secrets of the government. The book cannot be published in its current form because it breaks secrecy laws says the White House.
The warning was made in a letter to Bolton’s lawyer dated January 23 but only made public on Wednesday as Trump’s impeachment trial intensified in the Senate.
The National Security Council said after a preliminary review of the manuscript – a vetting process applied to any White House employees writing books – that it contained “significant amounts of classified information.”
They want to stop John Bolton's book as much as they want to stop his testimony in the impeachment trial.
That's why we need the book …. and the testimony.
Once it gets out, Trump is finished.https://t.co/zUMigQccw7— Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) January 30, 2020
“Some of this information is at the TOP SECRET level,” the NSC said in a letter to Bolton’s lawyer Charles Cooper, adding that “the manuscript may not be published or otherwise disclosed without the deletion of this classified information.”
Bolton’s lawyer pushed back at the White House claims in a letter sent the next day, which he also made public on Wednesday.
“We do not believe that any of that information could reasonably be considered classified,” Cooper wrote.
Read more: Trump’s bid to stop John Bolton’s testimony at senate trial
Democrats are pressing for the Senate to subpoena Bolton after reports that his White House memoir “The Room Where it Happened” corroborates the key abuse-of-power impeachment charge against Trump.
Bolton reportedly writes that the president personally told him in August that a freeze in military aid to Ukraine was directly linked to Trump’s demand that Kiev announces investigations into Joe Biden, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination.
In his letter, Cooper asks the NSC to rapidly conclude its review of the manuscript, in light of the possibility Bolton may be subpoenaed to appear at Trump’s trial.
Bolton’s lawyer contends his book does not contain classified material and asks White House for expedited review so he can testify if called https://t.co/MSTMhhU91s
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 29, 2020
“If he is called to testify, it seems certain that he will be asked questions that will elicit much of the information… dealing with his involvement in matters relating to Ukraine,” wrote Cooper, who said he had received no response as of Wednesday.
Several hours before the NSC letter went public, Trump lashed out at Bolton on Twitter, saying he had written a “nasty & untrue book. All Classified National Security.”
Despite the formal review process of Bolton’s book, drafts have already circulated around Washington, where the passages describing Trump’s relationship with Ukraine caused a sensation.
Read more: Ex-NSA John Bolton’s book upends Trump impeachment trial
At a news conference in Davos last week, Trump indicated he was worried about Bolton, whom he fired in 2019.
Trump said the veteran foreign policy advisor “knows some of my thoughts. He knows what I think about leaders. What happens if he reveals what I think about a certain leader and it’s not very positive.”
AFP with additional input by GVS newsdesk.