DONALD Trump has asked whether his former national security advisor, John Bolton, will be going to JAIL for releasing a new tell-all book exposing the Trump administration.
The President called Bolton’s memoir “highly inappropriate” and has now asked his White House staff whether releasing the controversial book will lead to Bolton being put behind bars.
According to the Daily Beast, Trump casually asked his administration officials and advisors: “Do you think he’s going to go to jail for this?” as tensions mount with just a few days until the book’s release.
Trump has already said that his former national security adviser will have a “very strong criminal problem” if he proceeds in publishing the memoir – which is expected to contain classified information.
Bolton’s book, titled “The Room Where It Happened,” is set to be released on 23 June and will reveal his stormy 17-month tenure as the President’s close advisor.
Known for being a meticulous note-taker, the 71-year-old’s memoir is expected to shed new light on the President’s dealings with foreign countries as well as his impeachment.
This has caused considerable concern for Trump, who has said: “If he wrote a book and if the book gets out, he’s broken the law and I would think you would have criminal problems. I hope so.”
He added: “If this guy is writing things about conversations or about anything — and maybe he is not telling the truth. He’s been known not to tell the truth, a lot.”
Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State has also chimed in, calling Bolton a “traitor who damaged America by violating his sacred trust with its people.”
In a bid to halt the publication, the Trump administration filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking an injunction to block the book from being released in its current form.
However, it was revealed yesterday that Bolton has moved to dismiss the Justice Department’s lawsuit for “failure to state a claim” – meaning the defence’s claims aren’t strong enough to lead to a legal solution.
Meanwhile, Bolton has confirmed that 200,000 copies of The Room Where It Happened are already bound and distributed to retailers ahead of Tuesday’s release.
Trump ousted Bolton as National Security Advisor last fall, which came after the pair had disputes over how to handle foreign policy challenges like Iran, North Korea and Afghanistan.
Trump wrote on Twitter on September 10: “I informed John Bolton last night that his services are no longer needed at the White House.”
“I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration, and therefore I asked John for his resignation, which was given to me this morning.
“I thank John very much for his service. I will be naming a new National Security Advisor next week.”
However, Bolton tweeted the same day that “I offered to resign last night and President Trump said, ‘Let’s talk about it tomorrow.'”
In his book, Bolton claims that Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to help him win the upcoming presidential election in November.
Bolton also wrote that the president once asked if Finland was a part of Russia.
The book was originally set to be published earlier this year, but it was reportedly met with delays as it passed through prepublication reviews by the National Security Council.
