Former national security adviser John Bolton has accused President Donald Trump of lying while in the office during his interview with ABC News. The interview is set to be broadcast on June 21.
Trump lied more than once
ABC's Martha Raddatz asked Bolton in a promotional preview of the interview if President Trump is lying, Bolton then answered that he is and it is not the first time.
Bolton also stated that he has not spoken to Trump since he resigned in September 2019 and he does not think he will ever talk to him again. There is a legal fight over the release of Bolton's book, which is labeled as an insider's scoop about Trump's foreign policy.
The Trump administration went to court on June 16 to try to stop the publication of the book and had argued that Bolton had breached non-disclosure agreements and that publishing the book will risk national security because it will expose classified information.
The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in Washington D.C and it states that Bolton's manuscript was filled with classified information.
Trump lashes out
President Donald Trump lashed out on John Bolton in a tweet on June 17, he called him a "wacko" and said that his book is made up of lies and fake stories. He also said that Bolton only said good things about him until the day that he fired him.
President Trump was on a phone call with Fox New's Sean Hannity and he said that Bolton broke the law by writing the book. He added that he used a "washed-up" guy and regretted giving him a chance.
The summaries and excerpts of Bolton's tell-all book titled "The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir" were all released on June 17 and it detailed conversations that Bolton said happened inside the White House. He wrote that obstruction of justice was common in the Trump administration.
According to Bolton, Trump gave personal favors to dictators that he liked. He also recounted the time when Trump asked help from President Xi Jinping of China so he can win his upcoming November 2020 reelection.
Bolton added that Trump said he was in favor of China building concentration camps for Uyghur Muslims and that he thinks it is a good idea.
However, Robert Lighthizer, a US Trade Representative, who was also present during the meeting, told The Wall Street Journal that the exchange between Trump and Xi never happened and that Bolton lied.
President Trump said in an interview with The Journal that Bolton is a liar and that everybody in the White House hated him. Bolton's book also elaborated on the Ukraine scandal was that the reason behind Trump's impeachment.
Bolton wrote that Trump kept telling White House officials to withhold aid to Ukraine because he wants it as leverage. Trump was looking for dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden, whose son worked in Ukraine.
The book quoted Trump saying in May 2019 that Ukraine tried to take him down and he is not interested in helping them. The lead impeachment manager. Rep. Adam Schiff slammed Bolton's revelation and said that he may be an author but he is not a patriot.
Bolton refused to testify before House impeachment investigators last year even though it was clear that he knew about Trump's plan on Ukraine.
