Trump: Bolton should be jailed over White House memoir
The president and his allies have grown increasingly vocal in their efforts to silence the former national security adviser.
President Donald Trump suggested former national security adviser John Bolton should be jailed for publishing his White House memoir — claiming the book, which includes numerous allegations of presidential misconduct, contains classified government information.
In an interview with Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade that aired Tuesday morning, Trump described Bolton as a “stupid guy” and a “guy with no heart,” saying his interactions with the former top aide were limited prior to Bolton’s ouster in September 2019.
“I fired him. And I didn’t think it was a big deal. And I wasn’t around him very much,” the president said.
“But what he did do is he took classified information, and he published it during a presidency,” Trump continued, adding: “I believe that he’s a criminal, and I believe, frankly, he should go to jail for that.”
Trump and his allies have grown increasingly vocal in their efforts to silence Bolton in the days since excerpts from his book began appearing in national news outlets, detailing myriad damaging accusations against the president.
Those accounts reported that Trump requested help from China’s government to be reelected and that he did indeed freeze military assistance to Ukraine in pursuit of foreign probes into his political rivals.
Trump has repeatedly attacked Bolton on social media over the past week, and the Justice Department last Tuesday sued to delay the publication of his 592-page memoir. A federal judge on Saturday denied the administration’s attempt to block the book’s release.
The president previously asserted Bolton should be prosecuted and imprisoned in a tweet earlier Tuesday morning, as his interview with Kilmeade played out on Fox News. He also indicated Bolton should be forced to return any profits he has reaped from his book.
“Washed up Creepster John Bolton is a lowlife who should be in jail, money seized, for disseminating, for profit, highly Classified information,” Trump wrote.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo joined the president Tuesday in alluding to potential criminal penalties for Bolton, saying he had seen “young soldiers” prosecuted for the release of classified information “at a much lower level, who were much more junior” than his former administration colleague.
“This is something that has real criminal risk associated with it,” Pompeo told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. “And for the life of me, I can’t figure out how it’s the case that this can be permitted to stand without a real response.”
The secretary said he would “leave it to” Attorney General William Barr “to make the final decision” regarding Bolton’s book.