White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham accused former national security adviser John Bolton of potentially harming United States national security to sell a book.
Grisham appeared on Fox Business with host Lou Dobbs on Monday and slammed Bolton after details from a draft copy of his forthcoming book leaked, which claimed that President Trump told Bolton that Ukraine would not receive U.S. military aid until Ukrainian officials launched investigations into Democrats, including former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
“Here is a man who purports to care about the national security of this country, and to leave the White House and immediately go write a book, it’s really disappointing,” Grisham said, referring to Bolton, who left the administration in September.
“I mean, obviously, the information came out with the New York Times last night, and then, a couple hours later, magically, the preorder link was live,” Grisham continued. “How much does it cost to sell out potential national security in your country?”
People who had seen the draft copy of Bolton’s book also told the New York Times that Bolton recounted telling Attorney General William Barr he was concerned the president was doing personal favors for the leaders of China and Turkey. After the detail on the Ukraine aid was reported, Bolton and his publisher denied having a hand in the leak.
The former national security adviser sent a copy of his manuscript to the National Security Council in the White House so officials could audit it for potentially sensitive details involving U.S. national security and for classified information. Such audits are routine for former administration officials such as Bolton.
Trump denied the claims on Monday, saying that “if John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book.”
