President Trump said in an interview that aired Tuesday that former National Security Adviser John R. Bolton is a “criminal” who should go to jail for publishing classified information.
“John Bolton was a stupid guy, and he was a guy with no heart,” Mr. Trump said on “Fox & Friends.” “He took classified information, and he published it during a presidency. It’s one thing to write a book after.
“I believe that he’s a criminal,” he said. “And I believe, frankly, that he should go to jail for that.”
Mr. Bolton’s book, “The Room Where It Happened,” is out on Tuesday.
Mr. Bolton paints a picture of a president who put his reelection prospects ahead of almost any other concern, writing that Mr. Trump prodded Chinese President Xi Jinping to help boost his reelection chances through trade policy.
The former national security adviser was fired by Mr. Trump in September 2019 over foreign policy disagreements.
In the run-up to the book’s release, the president has dismissed Mr. Bolton as a liar and a “wacko.”
A federal judge declined the Department of Justice’s bid to block the book from being released, though he did chide Mr. Bolton as well.
“Bolton has gambled with the national security of the United States. He has exposed his country to harm and himself to civil (and potentially criminal) liability. But these facts do not control the motion before the Court. The government has failed to establish that an injunction will prevent irreparable harm,” U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth said in an order issued over the weekend.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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