Title, release date revealed for Bolton memoir

Former national security adviser John Bolton’s forthcoming memoir is titled “The Room Where It Happened” and is scheduled to be released March 17, according to a posting for the book that went live Sunday night.

The new details emerged hours after The New York Times reported a manuscript of the book contained details about an August exchange where President Trump told Bolton he would not lift a freeze on security aid for Ukraine until the country agreed to assist in investigations into his political rivals.

A summary of the book posted on its Amazon page describes it as a “substantive and factual account of [Bolton’s] time in the room where it happened” during his 519 days as Trump’s national security adviser.

The book’s release could be affected if the White House attempts to block publication of certain aspects on the grounds that it contains classified material.

The New York Times reported Sunday evening that Bolton writes in the manuscript of “The Room Where It Happened” about an August meeting with Trump in which the president said he wanted to continue a freeze on nearly $400 million in security aid for Ukraine until the government there agreed to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and other Democrats.

The revelation in the book directly contradicts the White House’s insistence that the president did not explicitly connect the security aid and investigations.

A lawyer for Bolton on Sunday accused White House officials of leaking details of the forthcoming book after it was submitted to the National Security Council’s Records Management Division to review its contents for classified information on Dec. 30, a standard practice for former government officials writing books.

Trump was impeached last month for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress over allegations he tied security aid and a White House meeting for Ukraine to politically motivated investigations. His trial in the Senate is ongoing, and Bolton’s book has already triggered renewed calls from Democrats for him to testify.

The Senate is expected to vote later this week on whether to subpoena witnesses. If 51 senators vote in favor, debate would ensue on which witnesses to hear from.

Trump has already said he would seek to invoke executive privilege to block aspects of Bolton’s testimony.