Bolton reportedly received a formal threat from White House to prevent book publication

John Bolton.
(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The White House is reportedly trying to take the publication of former National Security Adviser John Bolton's forthcoming book into its own hands.

CNN's Jake Tapper reported Wednesday that sources familiar with the matter said the White House issued a "formal threat" in a letter to Bolton. Neither Bolton or his publisher Simon & Schuster have responded to a request for comment, and the White House had no comment on Tapper's report. But CBS obtained a letter the White House sent to Bolton's last week before leaks were made public warning him that the manuscript for The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir contained "significant amounts of classified information" and subsequently was prevented from being published under federal law.

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The Trump administration, including the president himself, though, has had plenty to say about Bolton recently. The White House doesn't seem pleased about the contents of his book — which reportedly include the claim that President Trump told Bolton about his Ukraine quid pro quo — or that he's said he's willing to testify if called upon during the Senate impeachment trial. Read more at CNN.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.