‘It is clear, regrettably, that the prepublication review process has been corrupted …’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Former national security adviser John Bolton and his book publisher denied that they leaked an advance copy of his unreleased memoir to the The New York Times.
After The New York Times reported on an excerpt of Bolton’s book this weekend, Republicans wondered whether Bolton had intentionally leaked a copy of his book to the media to sway Senate votes in order to testify against President Donald Trump.
“You have to keep in mind, for the first time in his life, he was fired,” said Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla. “That does have an effect on people.”
Longtime Bolton aide Sarah Tinsley, however, said this accusation is nothing more than “unfounded speculation.”
“Ambassador John Bolton, Simon & Schuster, and Javelin Literary categorically state that there was absolutely no coordination with the New York Times or anyone else regarding the appearance of information about his book, THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENED, at online booksellers,” she said in a statement, according to the New York Post.
Bolton’s team has instead blamed the leak on the White House, since Bolton sent an advanced copy to the executive branch for internal review to ensure it would not violate confidentiality.
“It is clear, regrettably, that the prepublication review process has been corrupted and that information has been disclosed by persons other than those properly involved in reviewing the manuscript,” said one of Bolton’s lawyers, Charles Cooper.
In a letter sent to Cooper last week, the White House concluded that Bolton’s memoir is not fit to be published.
“Based on our preliminary review, the manuscript appears to contain significant amounts of classified information,” said Ellen Knight, National Security Council senior director for records, access and information security management, according to NBC News.
“It also appears that some of this classified information is at the top-secret level,” Knight said. “The manuscript may not be published or otherwise disclosed without the deletion of this classified information.”