National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien denied claims from John Bolton’s attorneys that portions of his new book were leaked by the National Security Council.
The council had been given a manuscript of John Bolton’s new book, The Room Where it Happened, to ensure that no classified information was included in the memoir. Several portions of the book leaked just as the Senate impeachment trial started, leading many senators to argue that Bolton, 71, must testify because of the allegations made in it.
In the forthcoming book, Bolton claimed that he was told by President Trump to call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to tell him to meet with his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to discuss an investigation into the Bidens and the fate of Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch. Both Giuliani and Trump denied Bolton’s claims.
Bolton’s attorneys denied that they were responsible for the book leaking. Charles Cooper, Bolton’s lawyer, said, “It is clear, regrettably, from The New York Times article published today 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.”
During a Sunday interview on Face the Nation, O’Brien denied Cooper’s claims, saying, “I’m very confident that the leaks of that book did not come from the NSC.”
O’Brien explained that his council would not be verifying the claims made in Bolton’s book and that it is only responsible for filtering out any confidential passages. He added, “What the president has said, at least with respect to the allegation that Ambassador Bolton made, that he told him to call Zelensky, the president has said that did not happen.”
He noted that Attorney General William Barr and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have also sided with Trump over the remarks in the book. O’Brien continued, “It’s always disappointing when someone who has access to the most confidential, close information, close relationship with the president, decides to leave the White House and do a tell-all book.”
The leaked portions of Bolton’s book left many Democrats calling for additional witness testimony in the Senate trial, but the Republican majority voted against hearing new testimony. The Senate will vote to convict or acquit the president on Wednesday.
