John Bolton’s book at center of new lawsuit over White House review

A lawsuit has been filed against the federal government seeking information on how the White House went about its prepublication review process for former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s tell-all book.

The Freedom of Information act lawsuit, filed early Thursday and first obtained by Politico, asks if the White House or other federal agencies censored any portions of “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,” that did not contain classified information.

Kel McClanahan, the lawyer behind the suit, discussed the often vague review process for books like Bolton’s.

“The [National Security Council] by its own admission doesn’t follow any established rules when it does prepublication review,” McClanahan told the outlet.

“The Bolton case describes a prepublication review process driven by the whims of the political appointees in the White House, shrouded in the deference courts traditionally give the Intelligence Community on questions of national security. The public deserves to know if the claims made behind closed doors about Bolton’s book hold up to the scrutiny of a skeptical judge in a more demanding FOIA context,” he continued.

McClanahan’s suit names six major government agencies, including the CIA, the NSC and the Defense Department.

The Trump administration has argued publicly and in federal court that Bolton’s book should be blocked from release, claiming that the tome included classified information.

The federal judge who was tapped to decide whether to block the release, and ultimately allowed the book to go forward, conceded that Bolton’s book raised concerns.

“While Bolton’s unilateral conduct raises grave national security concerns, the government has not established that an injunction is an appropriate remedy,” that judge wrote earlier this week.

The judge wondered aloud why Trump’s former national security adviser turned in his manuscript to the publisher without waiting for it to be cleared by the National Security Council or else suing the government for permission to publish.

Bolton’s book, which was released Tuesday, has been slammed by President Trump as well as allies and members of his administration for its scathing rebuke of the commander-in-chief during his 17-month tenure as national security adviser.

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