Trump administration seeks emergency order to block Bolton’s memoir

Last-ditch attempt to quash release comes as copies have already been shipped and news outlets report on startling details

The Trump administration has made an aggressive last-ditch attempt to block the release of John Bolton’s bombshell book, in which the former national security adviser writes that the US president offered favors to dictators and asked China to help him with his 2020 re-election.

On Wednesday night, the justice department sought an emergency order from a judge to block the publication of Bolton’s memoir, after explosive excerpts were printed by various news organizations.

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Bolton’s book shows it’s still possible to be shocked by Trump’s presidency

Damaging revelations may disrupt Trump’s anti-China re-election strategy, but will it change any votes?

The conventional Washington wisdom before Wednesday afternoon was that it was hard to imagine anything that would still have the capacity to shock us about Donald Trump and his presidency.

Then John Bolton’s memoir leaked, with recollections of his time as national security adviser that appeared to have gone beyond parody and just kept travelling.

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Trump was willing to halt criminal investigations as ‘favor’ to dictators, Bolton book says

Donald Trump was willing to halt criminal investigations to “give personal favors to dictators he liked”, according to a new book written by his former national security adviser John Bolton.

Related: How Trump's missteps undermined the US's recovery from pandemic

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Trump administration sues to block publication of John Bolton’s book

Officials claim book, which is critical of administration, contains classified information and would compromise national security

The Trump administration has sued to block the publication of a forthcoming book by John Bolton, the US president’s former security adviser, about his time in the White House, arguing that it contained classified information and would compromise national security.

The civil lawsuit came one day after Trump said Bolton would be breaking the law if the book were published. Trump fired Bolton last September after roughly 17 months as national security adviser.

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Trump reportedly to take legal action to block John Bolton’s tell-all book

  • ABC News says Trump expected to file suit seeking injunction
  • The Room Where It Happened due for publication next week

Donald Trump is set to sue to stop the publication of a tell-all book by John Bolton, his third national security adviser, ABC News reported on Monday.

At an event in the White House later in the day, Trump said it would be up to the attorney general, William Barr, to issue any charges, but he hinted that the matter would end up in court. “We’ll see what happens. They’re in court or they’ll soon be in court,” Trump said about the book.

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Mike Pompeo hails Taliban agreement as Trump allies voice concerns

Lindsey Graham said he is ‘very suspect of the Taliban’ while John Bolton said signing the agreement is an ‘unacceptable risk’

In Doha on Saturday US secretary of state Mike Pompeo hailed the “historic talks” which led to the signing of an agreement with the Taliban which will see the US begin to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan after more than 18 years of war.

But at home in Washington, the deal was not greeted with universal enthusiasm even by allies of Donald Trump such as Lindsey Graham or former aides, among them the former national security adviser John Bolton.

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Trump reportedly calls John Bolton a ‘traitor’ and wants to block his book

  • President said book shouldn’t be published before election
  • Key impeachment witness Marie Yovanovitch to release memoir

John Bolton is “a traitor” and his book should not be published before the election in November, Donald Trump reportedly told aides and media figures.

The president’s views on news of a book deal for Marie Yovanovitch, another key figure in the Ukraine scandal which led to Trump’s impeachment, were not immediately clear.

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John Bolton rebuked for withholding Trump testimony in new public event

  • Ex-national security adviser criticized by Obama official
  • ‘I would feel like I was shamefully violating the oath I took’

Former national security adviser John Bolton faced a roasting from one of his predecessors on Wednesday night, in his second public appearance since the conclusion of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.

Related: Democratic debate: Warren brands Bloomberg 'a billionaire who calls people fat broads' – live

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Impeachment: GOP leaders reportedly say they lack votes to block witnesses – live

  • Republican Collins: ‘There’s some gaps that need to be cleared up’
  • White House counsel to senators: reject articles of impeachment
  • Schiff says Trump’s lawyers ‘cannot defend president on facts’
  • Help us cover the critical issues of 2020. Consider making a contribution

Though Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has reportedly told senators privately that he doesn’t have votes to block new witnesses in the impeachment trial, per multiple reports, there are still several days till senators would vote on the matter.

Senate Republicans may still block witnesses, and some GOP lawmakers are confident they’ll be able to do so, according to CNN.

While the votes aren't secured yet, GOP leaders are growing confident they can defeat a vote on witnesses following the initial alarm the Bolton book caused among Senate Rs. Many Rs amenable to argument that witnesses would drag it out with no clear end https://t.co/LKsAaRHEaS

Lev Parnas’ lawyer is expected to attend the Senate trial tomorrow.

Joseph Bondy asked Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer for gallery tickets, according to The Daily Beast, which first reported the news. Bondy’s co-counsel Stephanie Schuman is also expected to appear. Parnas himself may not be able to, as he wears an ankle monitor and electronics are banned in the trial chamber.

Lev Parnas attorney on attending Senate trial: “We are attending the trial w/ or w/o Mr. Parnas bc we believe our presence is important in reminding senators that indeed there should be witnesses heard and evidence taken and that anything short of that would not be a fair trial”

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Trump’s impeachment defense team glosses over new Bolton allegations

The ex-national security adviser’s book, which reportedly implicates the president over Ukraine, is hardly mentioned as trial continues

Lawyers for Donald Trump opted for a high-risk strategy in the sixth day of the president’s impeachment trial on Monday, avoiding mention of a major new development in the case even as Trump tweeted about it and some Republican senators told reporters that the tide against calling witnesses may have shifted.

On Sunday night, news broke that the former national security adviser John Bolton had written a book undermining the central claim of Trump’s defense, that Trump had never conditioned military aid for Ukraine on an announcement of investigations tied to his political rivals.

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Bolton’s book ‘goes to the heart of charges against Trump’ – video

Chuck Schumer has called for John Bolton to testify at Donald Trump's impeachment trial after claims in a book by the president's former national security adviser that Trump tied military aid to Ukraine with his demand to investigate political rival Joe Biden. The Senate minority leader said the revelations in Bolton's book were 'stunning' and that any Republican voting against calling him as a witness would 'be part of the cover-up'.

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Trump impeachment: Schiff calls on Bolton to testify and slams Republicans

House intelligence committee chairman Adam Schiff blasted former national security adviser John Bolton on Sunday, for failing to appear for testimony in the impeachment inquiry while teasing a forthcoming memoir.

Related: Not just the facts: Republicans' top six impeachment falsehoods

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Trump ordered to pay $2m for charity foundation misuse – live

Lawsuit exposed ‘shocking pattern of illegality’ in Trump’s personal charity, while John Bolton fails to show for deposition on Capitol Hill – follow live

Bloomberg is preparing to enter the Democratic presidential primary, the New York Times reports. He’s expected to file paperwork designating himself as a candidate in Alabama this week.

From the Times:

Mr. Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor and billionaire businessman, has been privately weighing a bid for the White House for weeks and has not yet made a final decision on whether to run, an adviser said. But in the first sign that he is seriously moving toward a campaign, Mr. Bloomberg has dispatched staffers to Alabama to gather signatures to qualify for the primary there. Though Alabama does not hold an early primary, it has a Friday deadline for candidates to formally enter the race.

Here’s a summary of where things stand:

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Rouhani says US ‘warmongering’ against Iran will fail

President Hassan Rouhani signals approval of firing of national security adviser

Iran’s president has urged the US to “put warmongers aside” as tensions roil the Persian Gulf amid an escalating crisis between Washington and Tehran after the collapsing nuclear deal with world powers.

Hassan Rouhani’s remarks signalled approval of Donald Trump’s abrupt dismissal of John Bolton as national security adviser. Bolton had been hawkish on Iran and other global challenges.

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Donald Trump ousts top adviser John Bolton: ‘I disagreed strongly with him’

Donald Trump has fired his national security adviser, John Bolton, in a pair of tweets in which he laid bare searing internal divisions within his inner circle, saying he had “disagreed strongly” with his top aide.

The departure of such a resolute hawk raises the possibility that Trump’s foreign policy could now make a dovish turn in the run up to next year’s elections, in particular with respect to Iran.

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‘I’m never surprised’: Mike Pompeo reacts to John Bolton’s firing – video

Secretary of state Mike Pompeo was asked if he was caught off guard by the firing of John Bolton, Donald Trump's national security adviser, to which he replied: 'I'm never surprised.' Pompeo was speaking at a press conference that earlier in the day Bolton had been billed to speak at. The president has fired three national security advisers in as many years and has said he will name the new one next week

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Trump wants to build a legacy, Bolton to break things – something had to give

No one expected Trump to pivot to diplomatic breakthroughs with someone as bellicose as Bolton by his side

John Bolton can at least boast that he lasted longer than his two predecessors, but few observers of Trumpworld expected him to cling on until 2020.

Donald Trump hired Bolton to break things, like the Obama administration legacy and the orthodox foreign policy establishment in general. Now, with the 2020 election coming, a downturn looming and a second presidential term in doubt, Trump is trying to build a foreign policy legacy of his own – or at least a reasonable impression of one.

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How will John Bolton’s dismissal affect US foreign policy?

Trump’s anti-interventionist instincts likely to come to the fore in flashpoint countries

Donald Trump’s abrupt dismissal of John Bolton, his national security adviser, may reflect the near breakdown in personal relations between the two men, as well as Bolton’s rivalry with the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, but it will also have implications for US foreign policy in a range of flashpoints.

Related: John Bolton fired as Trump's national security adviser – live news

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UK caught in middle of US power play with Iran

Seizure of Iranian oil tanker off Gibraltar was welcomed by US hawks but left Britain looking vulnerable

When Gibraltar’s authorities unexpectedly impounded the Iranian oil tanker Grace 1 in July, one member of Donald Trump’s administration was particularly pleased. John Bolton, the president’s hawkish national security adviser, tweeted: “Excellent news”.

The authorities in Gibraltar – with the backing of the British – said the vessel was heading for Syria. Selling oil to the regime of Bashar al-Assad was in breach of EU sanctions.

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Brexit, Iran, Huawei: What John Bolton’s ‘interim deals’ could cost

How far from European policy will the US national security adviser try to pull the UK?

John Bolton, the national security adviser to Donald Trump and one of the pre-eminent advocates of “America first”, could not have been more solicitous to the Boris Johnson government – but his overtures may come with a sting in the tail for the UK.

The messages of solidarity poured out. We are with you, he vowed, saying Brexit was in the US national security interest, with or without a deal with the EU by 31 October. Laced with a few barbs at the expense of Brussels, he presented his credentials as a pioneer Brexiter, arguing he was a leaver before there were leavers.

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