Navarro: Bolton set himself up as ‘White House warlord’

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro unloaded on former national security adviser John Bolton in a Fox News op-ed published on Sunday, accusing him of acting like a “warlord” in the Trump administration.

In a column excoriating Bolton for the release of his new book, “The Room Where It Happened,” Navarro echoed claims from other top advisers to President Trump who have accused the former national security adviser of lording over other White House staff and spinning false tales in his memoir.

“Here’s the John Bolton I knew: Within days of his appointment as President Trump’s national security adviser, Bolton established his own ‘autonomous zone’ in his spacious suite of offices within the West Wing of the White House and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building,” Navarro wrote in an apparent reference to an autonomous zone set up by demonstrators in downtown Seattle this month.

“Within this sprawling fortress, this Dr. Strangelove throwback set himself up as a warlord plotting all manner of coups, invasions and missile strikes,” Navarro continued.

Navarro also suggested in the piece that Bolton could face prison time for information in his book which the administration claims is classified. Lawyers for the Trump administration argued in court the book’s publication should be halted. Bolton has denied that his memoir contains any classified information.

“It would be a crime for former National Security Adviser John Bolton to get rich from his new book, which is Washington Swamp revenge porn. The Justice Department and perhaps a jury will have a say about that. Bolton may also wind up in prison for leaking highly classified information,” Navarro wrote.

Navarro’s words are the latest offensive from the White House aimed at Bolton, who made a number of politically charged claims in his book including that the president approached Chinese President Xi Jinping for assistance with winning reelection in November.

White House officials and other top Trump administration figures such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have denied the claims made in the book.