The Department of Justice has filed a civil lawsuit against former national security advisor John Bolton to stop the publication of his book “The Room Where It Happened.”
The books have already been shipped to warehouses and was scheduled to be released June 23.
The lawsuit claims the book contains “classified information” and could compromise national security.
While Bolton’s attorney said that the manuscript had not yet been cleared by the White House, he said that the staffer vetting the book had given him the “last edit.”
The lawsuit claims Bolton was unsatisfied at the rate of progress for clearing the book for release and took matters into his own hands.
“NSC has determined that the manuscript in its present form contains certain passages — some up to several paragraphs in length — that contain classified national security information. In fact, the NSC has determined that information in the manuscript is classified at the Confidential, Secret and Top Secret levels. Accordingly, the publication and release of The Room Where It Happened would cause irreparable harm, because the disclosure of instances of classified information in the manuscript reasonably could be expected to cause serious damage, or exceptionally grave damage, to the national security of the United States,” the lawsuit states.
Just hours after the lawsuit was filed, Jody Hunt, the head of the DOJ Civil Division, gave notice that he will be leaving his post on July 3, a senior administration official confirmed to CBS News. In the suit, Hunt was identified as the top lawyer on the case.
See this story at CBS.