Bolton reportedly received a formal threat from White House to prevent book publication
The White House is reportedly trying to take the publication of former National Security Adviser John Bolton's forthcoming book into its own hands.
CNN's Jake Tapper reported Wednesday that sources familiar with the matter said the White House issued a "formal threat" in a letter to Bolton. Neither Bolton or his publisher Simon & Schuster have responded to a request for comment, and the White House had no comment on Tapper's report. But CBS obtained a letter the White House sent to Bolton's last week before leaks were made public warning him that the manuscript for The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir contained "significant amounts of classified information" and subsequently was prevented from being published under federal law.
NEW: @CBSNews has obtained a letter from the White House blocking Bolton from publishing his book. The date is critical here—01/23/20–before the public ever learned what the manuscript said. pic.twitter.com/auM5Cw2w3f
— Weijia Jiang (@weijia) January 29, 2020
The Trump administration, including the president himself, though, has had plenty to say about Bolton recently. The White House doesn't seem pleased about the contents of his book — which reportedly include the claim that President Trump told Bolton about his Ukraine quid pro quo — or that he's said he's willing to testify if called upon during the Senate impeachment trial. Read more at CNN.
This story has been updated.
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