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Bolton signs $2 million book deal

Then-national security adviser John Bolton gives a press conference in Jerusalem on August 20, 2018.
John Bolton, then-national security adviser, gives a press conference in Jerusalem in 2018. Photo: Sebastian Scheiner/AFP via Getty Images

Former National Security Adviser John Bolton has signed a book deal with Simon & Schuster "worth about $2 million," AP first reported Saturday. Sources confirmed the deal to Axios' Jonathan Swan, who scooped last month that Bolton had decided to write a book about his time in the Trump administration.

Why it matters: Bolton has largely remained silent on his time in the administration and he did not appear for his closed-door deposition in the impeachment inquiry last Thursday.

  • Trump's former Russia adviser Fiona Hill testified last month that Bolton told a top Russia aide to notify White House lawyers about a campaign to pressure the Ukrainian government to investigate the Biden family and the 2016 election.
  • Bolton was "part of many relevant meetings and conversations" relating to the impeachment inquiry, his lawyer said Friday, per AP.
  • Given that Bolton "wrote a book about his tenure in the George W. Bush administration, from the moment he left the White House, senior officials privately expressed concerns about what Bolton might say and reveal about his time serving Trump," Swan notes.

The big picture: AP notes that Bolton "was represented by the Javelin literary agency, whose clients include former FBI Director James Comey and the anonymous Trump administration official whose book, 'A Warning,' comes out Nov. 19."

  • Bolton's book title and release date have yet to be revealed.
John R. Bolton