The White House is determined to block the release of Bolton’s memoir.
Former national security adviser John Bolton recently penned a 592-page memoir of his 16-month tenure as the third man to be appointed by Donald Trump to the position. This book, titled The Room Where it Happened, is set to release this coming Tuesday, June 23. However, before the book can release, the Trump Administration has filed a formal complaint with a federal judge to halt it, claiming that the book violates a nondisclosure agreement signed by Bolton when he was removed from his position.
“[The National Security Council] has determined that the manuscript in its present form contains certain passages — some up to several paragraphs in length — that contain classified national security information,” the filing reads. “In fact, the NSC has determined that information in the manuscript is classified at the Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret levels.”
“Accordingly,” it continues, “the publication and release of The Room Where it Happened would cause irreparable harm, because the disclosure of instances of classified information in the manuscript reasonably could be expected to cause serious damage, or exceptionally grave damage, to the national security of the United States.”
The book’s publisher, Simon & Schuster, specifically company spokesman Adam Rothberg, responded to the filing in a statement to NPR. The filing “is nothing more than the latest in a long running series of efforts by the Administration to quash publication of a book it deems unflattering to the President,” said Rothberg. “Ambassador Bolton has worked in full cooperation with the NSC in its pre-publication review to address its concerns and Simon & Schuster fully supports his First Amendment right to tell the story of his time in the White House to the American public.”
The Room Where it Happened has already had its commercial run printed and distributed to booksellers. According to a source close to Bolton, he intends to release the book no matter what, and will deal with any ramifications afterward.
