Former National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Monday night that he was concerned that President Donald Trump and the White House would try to muzzle his tell-all book, “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir.”
“I hope, ultimately, I can get the book published,” Bolton told the audience at an event at Duke University, his first public appearance since the beginning of the impeachment proceedings against Trump. “I hope it’s not suppressed.”
The former adviser slammed the White House’s “censorship” of his book with its lengthy pre-publication review of the manuscript for “classified information.”
Bolton, who had refused to testify in the House’s impeachment investigation, refused to divulge any information regarding Trump’s Ukraine pressure campaign, coyly suggesting that people ought to read his upcoming book (scheduled to be released on March 17) instead.
When asked if Trump’s infamous phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky was as “perfect” as Trump insists, Bolton merely responded, “You’ll love chapter 14.”
He gave a similar answer when the moderator asked him how he dealt with Trump’s bonkers press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018, during which Trump refused to condemn Russia’s election interference and instead attacked the U.S.’ own intelligence community.
“I could read a chapter from my book here and give you the answer to that question,” Bolton teased.
The New York Times published a report on Bolton’s unpublished manuscript last month that revealed Trump had tried to drag Bolton into his scheme to pressure Ukraine into digging up dirt on Joe Biden. Trump responded to the report with a rant about Bolton’s “nasty and untrue book.”
Bolton complained about Trump’s attacks on Monday night.
“He tweets, but I can’t talk about it,” he grumbled. “How fair is that?”
