White House Shoots Down Explosive Claims in New Bolton Memoir

Jenna Browder
06-18-2020

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WASHINGTON – The war of words between President Trump and his former National Security Advisor, John Bolton, is spilling over into the courts. The administration has filed a restraining order to stop the release of Bolton's new book, The Room Where it Happened, claiming it violates national security. 

In an exclusive interview with ABC News' Martha Raddatz, Bolton gives a glimpse of what's inside his White House memoir. 

Bolton slams Trump, calling him "erratic," "irrational," "foolish," and "stunningly uninformed." 

On the issue of Russia, Raddatz asked him to describe Trump's relationship with Vladimir Putin. 

"I think Putin feels like he can play him like a fiddle," Bolton told her. "I think Putin is smart, tough. I think he sees he's not faced with a serious adversary here. I don't think he's worried about Donald Trump." 

Bolton also says Trump withheld US aid from Ukraine for political reasons and suggested China's president buy more American goods to help him win the 2020 election. 

Trump's US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer shot down that claim Wednesday on Capitol Hill. 

"Absolutely untrue," he said. "Never happened. I was there. I have no recollection of that ever happening." 

The administration calls Bolton's claims bogus and is trying to block the book with a civil lawsuit. 

Trump on Twitter: 

"Wacko John Bolton's 'exceedingly tedious' (New York Times) book is made up of lies & fake stories. Said all good about me, in print, until the day I fired him. A disgruntled boring fool who only wanted to go to war. Never had a clue, was ostracized & happily dumped. What a dope!"

The administration says Bolton's book contains classified material. 

"I will consider every conversation with me as president highly classified," Trump told reporters Wednesday. "So that would mean if he wrote a book and the book gets out, he's broken the law." 

Attorney General Bill Barr added that Bolton failed to complete the vetting process. 

"They have to go through a clearance process before they publish the book and we don't believe that Bolton went through that process," said Barr. 

Former congressman Trey Gowdy questioned Bolton's motives on Fox News. 

"Bolton, if you really think he's unfit to be the leader of the free world, why didn't you say anything? Why do I have to buy your book to get that?" said Gowdy. 

It's worth noting Bolton refused to testify in the impeachment trial and in the book he's critical of how Congress handled the process. 

CBN's Chief Political Analyst David Brody says it comes down to a he-said, she-said situation. 

"The book is called 'In the Room Where it Happened.' Well, John Bolton says he was in the room where it happened. But Donald Trump has a version about that as well. He was in the room where it happened," said Brody. "And then you've got a lot of folks within the White House saying that none of this is true. And part of the problem here for John Bolton is we don't have any actual words that Donald Trump said in the room where it happened. We have some vague generalities about what Donald Trump was talking about."

If it's not stopped by the courts, Bolton's book comes out June 23rd. 

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About The Author

Jenna
Browder

Jenna Browder co-hosts Faith Nation and is a network correspondent for CBN News. She has interviewed many prominent national figures from both sides of the political aisle, including presidents, cabinet secretaries, lawmakers, and other high-ranking officials. Jenna grew up in the small mountain town of Gunnison, Colorado and graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she studied journalism. Her first TV jobs were at CBS affiliates in Cheyenne, Wyoming and Monroe, Louisiana where she anchored the nightly news. She came to Washington, D.C. in 2016. Getting to cover that year's
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