The President

Trump Administration Sues John Bolton Over Upcoming Book

The lawsuit argues former national security adviser John Bolton didn't finish the White House's prepublication review process.

Trump Administration Sues John Bolton Over Upcoming Book
Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

The Trump administration filed a lawsuit against former national security adviser John Bolton over his upcoming book. "The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir" is expected to be released next week. 

Bolton's book allegedly says President Donald Trump withheld military aid to Ukraine in order to pressure it to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. 

The lawsuit, filed in Washington, D.C., argues Bolton's manuscript is filled with classified information, and that he didn't finish a contractually obligated review process with the White House. 

The book's publisher previously said it would be released on June 23. A source close to Bolton told CNN he intends to publish the book as planned. On Monday, President Donald Trump said he considers all of his own conversations to be classified. 

"If he wrote a book, I can't imagine that he can, because that's highly classified information," President Trump said. "Even conversations with me — they're highly classified. I told that to the attorney general before. I would consider every conversation with me, as president, highly classified. So that would mean that if he wrote a book and if the book gets out, he's broken the law."

Legal experts say the lawsuit cannot stop the book from being published. Copies have already been shipped to distributors. 

Contains footage from CNN.