President Trump said Wednesday night that former National Security Adviser John R. Bolton “broke the law” by publishing a book containing classified information from his tenure inside the Trump White House.
“He broke the law, very simple,” the president said on “Hannity” on Fox News. “This is highly classified information, and he did not have approval.”
The Justice Department asked a court Wednesday to issue an emergency restraining order to prevent the release of Mr. Bolton’s forthcoming book, “The Room Where It Happened,” which is due out on Tuesday. The administration says the book contains top-secret information and that Mr. Bolton didn’t receive the required approval from the government.
Mr. Bolton claims in the book that the president asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to help him win reelection by purchasing large amounts of U.S. farm products during trade negotiations. Mr. Trump didn’t address that accusation directly but did say, “Nobody has been tougher on Russia or China than I have. That’s in the record books. The last administration did nothing on either. Nobody’s been tough like me on China, taking in billions and billions of dollars [in tariffs].”
He said of Mr. Bolton, “He was a washed-up guy and I gave him a chance. I wasn’t very enamored.”
The president fired Mr. Bolton in September 2019 after a series of disagreements over foreign policy.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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