Judge REJECTS request to block John Bolton book as Trump slams ‘washed up’ ex-aide and says he ‘must pay a price’
A US judge on Saturday rejected the Trump administration’s bid to block the publication of John Bolton’s tell-all book – as the president slammed and threatened his “washed-up” former aide. The 600-page The Room Where It Happened will be available for purchase on Tuesday. The decision from US District Judge Royce Lamberth is a victory […]
A US judge on Saturday rejected the Trump administration’s bid to block the publication of John Bolton’s tell-all book – as the president slammed and threatened his “washed-up” former aide.
The 600-page The Room Where It Happened will be available for purchase on Tuesday.
The decision from US District Judge Royce Lamberth is a victory for Bolton in a court case that involved First Amendment and national security concerns.
President Trump has called the memoir by his former national security adviser “highly inappropriate,” and has asked if Bolton belongs in jail.
He reacted to the court decision by continuing to slam Bolton in a series of tweets on Saturday morning.
“Wow, I finally agree with failed political consultant Steve Schmidt, who called Wacko John Bolton ‘a despicable man who failed in his duty to protect America,'” the president wrote.
“Also stated that he should never be allowed to serve in government again.”
“So true! Plain and simple, John Bolton, who was all washed up until I brought him back and gave him a chance, broke the law by releasing Classified Information (in massive amounts).
“He must pay a very big price for this, as others have before him. This should never to happen again!!!”
The judge was also critical of Bolton, writing in his decision that attempting to block the book’s release would be futile with 200,000 copies already distributed to booksellers.
“A single dedicated individual with a book in hand could publish its contents far and wide from his local coffee shop,” Lamberth wrote.
“With hundreds of thousands of copies around the globe – many in newsrooms – the damage is done.
“There is no restoring the status quo.”
The judge said he was concerned that Bolton had “gambled with the national security of the United States” by opting out of a prepublication review process.
“He has exposed his country to harm and himself to civil (and potentially criminal) liability,” Lamberth wrote.
“But these facts do not control the motion before the Court.
“The government has failed to establish that an injunction will prevent irreparable harm.”
The Justice Department had sued to block the book’s release and to demand that copies be retrieved.
Officials said the book contained classified information and claimed that Bolton had failed to complete the review process meant to ensure former government officials do not improperly disclose national security secrets.
MOST READ IN NEWS
The 71-year-old Bolton served as Trump’s national security adviser from April of 2018 until September of 2019.
The explosive memoir includes a first-person account of how Trump conducts himself in the White House.
Bolton is critical of the president and much of his senior team, writing that Trump “saw conspiracies behind rocks, and remained stunningly uninformed on how to run the White House, let alone the huge federal government.”