Trump administration to reportedly file lawsuit to block John Bolton's book

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published 15 June 2020

Former National Security Adviser John Bolton's new memoir is scheduled to come out next week — but the Trump administration will reportedly mount a last-minute effort to block it.

The Trump administration is "expected to file a lawsuit in federal court seeking an injunction to block the book from being released in its current form," and the lawsuit "could come as soon as today," ABC News reports.

The White House has told Bolton that his book, The Room Where It Happened, contains classified information, although Bolton's lawyer has refuted that and said "this is a transparent attempt to use national security as a pretext to censor Mr. Bolton." Bolton, according to The New York Times, has "told associates he believes he has made changes to the book that accommodate" the White House's concerns.

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The book is set for release on June 23, and Simon & Schuster said last week that Bolton in it will argue "that the House committed impeachment malpractice by keeping their prosecution focused narrowly on Ukraine when Trump's Ukraine-like transgressions existed across the full range of his foreign policy." Simon & Schuster is leaning into the White House's desire to block the book's release, advertising that "this is the book Donald Trump doesn't want you to read."

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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.

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