Lawyer says Bolton moving forward with book despite warning from White House

An attorney for former White House national security adviser John Bolton said the publication of Bolton’s memoir will proceed as scheduled despite warnings from the White House that it contains classified information.

A White House lawyer on Wednesday said the manuscript for Bolton’s book, “The Room Where It Happened,” needs further revisions, saying in a letter that it will send Bolton a manuscript redacted to the White House’s satisfaction by June 19, The Washington Post reported. The book is set to hit shelves June 23, and Bolton is currently negotiating promotional appearances in the media.

Charles Cooper, Bolton’s lawyer, said his client has followed all national security requirements and that the book, which has already been shipped to warehouses, will be released as scheduled.

“Simon & Schuster is fully supportive of Ambassador Bolton’s First Amendment right to tell the story of his time in the Trump White House,” said Julia Prosser, vice president and director of publicity for the book’s publisher, said in a statement.

“In the months leading up to the publication of ‘The Room Where It Happened,’ Bolton worked in cooperation with the National Security Council to incorporate changes to the text that addressed NSC concerns,” she added. “The final, published version of this book reflects those changes.”

Cooper told the Post he received the letter calling for further revisions from White House deputy counsel John Eisenberg. In the letter, first reported by The New York Times, Eisenberg invoked the nondisclosure agreement Bolton signed when he went to work for the Trump administration, adding “the unauthorized disclosure of classified information could be exploited by a foreign power, thereby causing significant harm to the national security of the United States.”

Cooper told the Post he sent a “lengthy response” and that the publication date would not be altered.