Bolton book to argue ‘Trump misconduct with other countries’ beyond Ukraine: report

Former White House national security adviser John Bolton will claim in his forthcoming book that President Trump engaged in “misconduct with other countries,” beyond his contacts with Ukraine, the subject of the president’s impeachment by House lawmakers last year.

Axios first reported Friday that Bolton will allege there was “Trump misconduct with other countries” in “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir.” The report did not offer additional details on the allegations or countries involved.

Trump was impeached by the House on two charges — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — by House lawmakers last year. He was subsequently acquitted by the Senate of the charges in February. Lawmakers alleged that Trump withheld millions of dollars in security aid for Ukraine to coerce the country’s leaders into investigating his political rivals.

An attorney for Bolton said this week that the publication of the highly anticipated memoir will proceed as scheduled despite several warnings from the White House that the book contains classified information.

The book is currently scheduled to hit shelves on June 23, although a White House lawyer on Wednesday said that it needs further revisions.

In a passage from the epilogue of the book, Bolton also alleges that Trump directed “the seizure and withholding of my advisors’ personal and other unclassified documents,” amid other claims of “outright threats of censorship.”

“As if impeachment were not enough, I also found myself confronting the daunting challenge of fighting an incumbent President determined to prevent publication of a book about my White House experiences. Trump behaved typically, directing the seizure and withholding of my advisors’ personal and other unclassified documents, despite numerous requests for their return; obstructing my Twitter account; and making outright threats of censorship,” Bolton wrote.

“His reaction thus ranged from the mean-spirited to the constitutionally impermissible. My reaction … my response? Game on,” Bolton continued.

Charles Cooper, Bolton’s attorney, has held that his client has followed all national security requirements in working on the book.

Cooper told The Washington Post he received a letter calling for further revisions from White House deputy counsel John Eisenberg, who reportedly invoked the nondisclosure agreement Bolton signed when he went to work for the Trump administration. 

The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.