Trump says John Bolton will have a ‘strong criminal problem’ if he publishes tell-all book as EVERY chat is classified
PRESIDENT Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that John Bolton, his former national security adviser, will have a "very strong criminal problem" if he proceeds in publishing a tell-all book.
Bolton's memoir is set to be released on June 23, but Trump called it "highly inappropriate" and said that he would consider every conversation he has had with Bolton "to be highly classified."
Bolton, a meticulous note-taker and Trump's third National Security Advisor, is expected to shed new light on the president's dealings with foreign countries as well as his impeachment.
Trump said: "If he wrote a book and if the book gets out, he's broken the law and I would think you would have criminal problems. I hope so."
He added: "If this guy is writing things about conversations or about anything — and maybe he is not telling the truth. He's been known not to tell the truth, a lot."
That challenge is expected to begin over the coming days, sources said.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Bill Barr, who was sat next to President Trump on Monday, said the Justice Department is looking to ensure Bolton makes "the necessary deletions of classified information."
Cooper claimed such challenges are coming after "weeks of silence" from the White House, adding that the Trump administration was using a "transparent attempt to use national security as a pretext to censor Mr. Bolton."
Parts of Bolton's book are expected to focus on President Trump's impeachment.
Bolton was criticized in the past for declining to testify during the president's impeachment – even though he claimed to have firsthand knowledge of Trump's involvement in a campaign to pressure Ukraine to investigate the Bidens.
Describing the book, Bolton's publisher writes: "What Bolton saw astonished him: a President for whom getting reelected was the only thing that mattered, even if it meant endangering or weakening the nation.”
Bolton details potentially impeachment-worthy “transgression” across “the full range” of Trump’s foreign policy, according to a description posted online.