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Post by Admin on Jun 20, 2020 5:43:03 GMT
A federal judge on Friday appeared disinclined to issue a restraining order reining in publication of John Bolton’s explosive memoir, but expressed deep doubts about the former national security adviser’s decision to unveil the book to the public without official confirmation that it was free of classified information. U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth said the Justice Department’s request to suppress the book on national security grounds would be difficult to enforce--a stance that echoed Bolton’s argument that there’s no feasible way to undo the dissemination of the tell-all memoir. “The horse, as we used to say in Texas, seems to be out of the barn,” Lamberth said at the outset of a nearly two-hour hearing conducted by videoconference and telephone due to coronavirus restrictions. “It certainly seems difficult to me about what I could do about those books all over the country.” Yet Lamberth raised repeated issues with the way Bolton ultimately appeared to short-circuit the review process to rush out the brutal account of his 18-month stint working for President Donald Trump. The memoir, titled “The Room Where it Happened,” is officially set for publication on Tuesday, but physical and digital copies of the book have been circulating in Washington for several days, generating a flurry of unflattering headlines for the White House. And 200,000 copies of the book have been sent to resellers, according to Bolton’s publisher. Bolton’s book alleges that Trump encouraged China’s construction of camps for its Uighur population, and that he pleaded with Chinese President Xi Jinping to purchase American agricultural products in order to aid his reelection. It also describes Trump’s offer of favors to autocratic leaders and affirms House Democrats’ impeachment evidence that Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate his political rivals in exchange for military assistance. Trump has said Bolton is a “liar,” and multiple Cabinet officials have disputed his version of events. In Friday’s hearing, Lamberth pressed the Justice Department attorney arguing for the restraining order, David Morrell, to explain what benefit such an order would have at this point given the wide distribution of the book.
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Post by Admin on Jun 22, 2020 18:54:46 GMT
North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un "gets a huge laugh" out of Donald Trump's notion that the two are friends, John Bolton, the president's former national security adviser, has said.
Mr Bolton sat for an interview with ABC News that aired on Sunday to promote his new book, The Room Where It Happened, which hits shelves on Tuesday.
Asked by ABC's Martha Raddatz whether Mr Trump "really believes Kim Jong-un loves him," Mr Bolton responded that he doesn't know of any other explanation for the president's statements.
"I think Kim Jong-un gets a huge laugh out of this. I mean, these letters that the president has shown to the press — off the record and whatnot, but I've been in the room when he's done it — are written by some functionary in the North Korean Workers Party Agitprop Office," Mr Bolton said, referring to personal letters the North Korean leader has supposedly written to Mr Trump.
"And yet, the president has looked at them as evidence of this deep friendship. Even if it were a deep personal relationship, it doesn't change the fact Kim Jong-un is never going to give up his nuclear weapons program. And from the US national security point of view, that is the only thing that matters," Mr Bolton said.
But the nuances of national security were only of trifling concern for Mr Trump compared to what he determined would be a political windfall from meeting with Mr Kim, Mr Bolton said.
"That's what he was focused on — that he had had this enormous photo opportunity. First time an American president has met with the leader of North Korea," Mr Bolton said.
"And he got enormous attention from it. I thought it was a strategic mistake. The US itself got nothing from that. Donald Trump got a lot. The United States gave much more legitimacy to this dictator and didn't accomplish anything toward any meaningful discussion on the elimination of their nuclear weapons program," Mr Bolton said.
Mr Trump has said on multiple occasions he believes his face-to-face meetings with Mr Kim should position him to win the Nobel Peace Prize, despite politicians and scholars from Mr Trump's own party saying the meetings did not have any lasting positive impact on US-North Korea relations.
After Mr Trump and Mr Kim first met face to face in Singapore in June 2018, Mr Trump wanted to set up more meetings, which Mr Bolton thought was a bad idea and a waste of time.
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Post by Admin on Jun 23, 2020 19:16:59 GMT
In the book, Bolton portrays Trump as a man unfit for the presidency who consistently made decisions based on how they could help his reelection chances rather than what was in the best interest of the country. Accusations by Bolton include Trump asking for election help from Chinese President Xi Jinping, endorsing China’s use of prison camps for Muslims, speaking about executing journalists and a firsthand account of Trump’s dealings with Ukraine that were at the center of the impeachment saga. The president called the book “a compilation of lies and made up stories” from a former staffer who was “just trying to get even” for being fired. At the same time, the Trump administration took legal action to block its release over claims that it contains classified information. A federal judge on Saturday ruled in Bolton’s favor. Bolton became Trump’s third national security adviser in April 2018. Bolton either resigned or was fired, depending on who you ask, in September 2019 after reportedly clashing with the president on a number of foreign policy issues. House Democrats chose not to subpoena Bolton as a witness during their impeachment inquiry, largely over concerns that it would spark a protracted legal battle. Republicans in the Senate declined to seek his testimony as well. Why there’s debate The flood of claims made in Bolton’s book has prompted strong reactions across the political spectrum. Trump’s allies have been quick to echo his criticisms of Bolton and have attempted to undercut the claims made in the book. Bolton has also received significant criticism from liberals, who say he put personal profit over the country’s interest by using his claims to sell a book rather than sharing them publicly months ago. The accusations could have been especially impactful during the impeachment trial, Democrats argue. Though his testimony may not have compelled GOP senators to remove Trump from office, Bolton could have told his extensive account of the president’s wrongdoing, which may have done severe political damage to Trump, they argue. Sharing his story now — in the midst of a health crisis and a national movement for racial justice — makes the revelations largely irrelevant, some argue. Others say that the book could still be impactful, despite Bolton’s apparent motives. It contains allegations of severe violations by the president that may resonate with voters who are already discontent with his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and protests, some argue. Bolton’s claims that Trump took a conciliatory approach to China, specifically, could undercut the president’s attempts to sell himself as a strong adversary to Beijing. What’s next Bolton’s book is scheduled for release on June 23. Democrats in the House are considering whether to seek testimony from Bolton in light of the new allegations, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday.
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Post by Admin on Jun 24, 2020 19:01:07 GMT
John Bolton took exception to CBS "Late Show" host Stephen Colbert calling him "naive" for going to work for the Trump administration, with the former national security adviser explaining that he thought it was possible to work with the president when he took the job in 2018.
"My rule is, everything you think about Donald Trump is probably true, because he’s not deep enough to get your socks wet in. He’s incredibly readable. That’s why when he ran casinos, the house lost," Colbert said. "There’s nothing to learn about him. That’s why he’s essentially a boring person. How did you not know beforehand that he was just callow?"
"Because I couldn’t believe it was that bad," Bolton, who is currently on a media tour to promote his new book, “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir," responded.
"But you’re a national negotiator, how could you be naive?" the host pressed. "You’ve dealt with the worst people in the world."
"You’ve really insulted me now by calling me naive," Bolton shot back. "Look, I thought it was possible to work with somebody. I thought surely they would want to learn about the complexities of arms control negotiations and that sort of thing, and as I detail in the book, that turned out not to be true."
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Post by Admin on Jul 6, 2020 18:49:47 GMT
Donald Trump’s claim not to have been briefed about intelligence suggesting Russia paid Taliban-linked militants to kill US soldiers is “just not the way the system works”, former national security adviser John Bolton said on Sunday.
Bolton was appearing on Face the Nation, the Sunday talk show from ViacomCBS, the communications giant which owns Simon & Schuster, the publisher which put out Bolton’s Trump White House memoir, The Room Where It Happened, over the president’s objection.
Elsewhere, former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice said Bolton would have known about the bounties intelligence while he was in the role, which he left in September 2019, and would therefore have briefed Trump himself.
“I don’t buy this story that he was never briefed,” Rice told NBC’s Meet The Press. “I believe that … when the information first came to light in 2019, my successor, John Bolton, would have walked straight into the Oval Office, as I would have, and informed the president of this intelligence.”
Bolton’s book, a tell-all which sold nearly 800,000 copies in its first week in stores, is named for the Oval Office and contains numerous shocking descriptions of Trump’s behaviour. But it does not mention the alleged bounties plot.
“I’m not going to disclose classified information,” Bolton told CBS. “I’ve got the struggle with the president trying to repress my book on that score already.”
Bolton submitted his book to a national security review but was scolded by a federal judge for “likely publishing classified materials”, “gambling with the national security of the United States” and “exposing … himself to civil (and potentially criminal) liability”.
On Sunday, Bolton said: “I will say this. All intelligence is distributed along the spectrum of uncertainty. And this intelligence in 2020, by the administration’s own admission, was deemed credible enough to give to our allies. So the notion that you only give the really completely 100% verified intelligence to the president would mean you give him almost nothing. And that’s just not the way the system works.”
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