Jun 12, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Scoop: John Bolton to argue Trump misconduct

A screenshot from the forthcoming John Bolton book about this time in the Trump White House
Back cover: Simon & Schuster. Graphic: Axios

John Bolton taunts President Trump, his former boss, on the back cover of his forthcoming book: "Game on."

  • In a memoir coming June 23 that the White House has tried to delay, former national security adviser Bolton will offer multiple revelations about Trump’s conduct in office, with direct quotes by the president and senior officials, according to a source familiar with the book.

Why it matters: Bolton, who was U.S. ambassador to the U.N. under President George W. Bush, is a lifelong conservative and longtime Fox News contributor who is well-known by the Trump base, the source pointed out.

  • In "The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir," Bolton will go beyond Ukraine, and argue there was "Trump misconduct with other countries," the source said.
  • Axios agreed to grant anonymity to the source in order to give readers a window into the book ahead of publication.

Behind the scenes: People close to Trump have been worried about the book because Bolton was known as the most prolific note taker in high-level meetings, Jonathan Swan reports.

  • Bolton would sit there, filling yellow legal pad after yellow legal pad with notes.
  • In short: Bolton saw a lot, and he wrote it down in real time. And when he left, the White House never got those notes back.
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