Bolton accuses Trump of lying in new ABC interview

Former national security adviser John Bolton accused President Trump of lying while in office, according to a preview of an interview with ABC News set to air Sunday.

In a promotional clip released by the network, ABC’s Martha Raddatz sits down to talk about Bolton’s experience in the administration and his upcoming book, “The Room Where it Happened: A White House Memoir.” 

“Is the president lying?” Raddatz asks Bolton.

“Yes he is, and it’s not the first time either,” Bolton replies, according to the clip.  

EXCLUSIVE: He’s the man President Trump doesn’t want you to hear.

Now, John Bolton, Trump’s former trusted national security advisor, finally speaks out. What will he say? Don’t miss this news making event special – Sunday night at 9|8c on @ABC. pic.twitter.com/NrLKXHCRYy

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) June 17, 2020

Bolton adds that he has not spoken with Trump since he resigned from the administration in September and that he doubts he ever will in the future.

It is not immediately clear from the clip what Bolton is accusing Trump of lying about, but his interview with Raddatz was framed by the network as a conversation with “the person the president doesn’t want you to hear from.” 

Bolton is currently locked in a legal battle with the Trump administration over his upcoming memoir, which is set to be released next week. The Trump administration filed a lawsuit Tuesday to try to block the book’s publication over claims the memoir represented a violation of Bolton’s nondisclosure agreement. 

Prosecutors say in the suit that Bolton’s book is “rife with classified information” and that he backed out of a vetting process by the White House, two claims that Bolton denies. 

“[Bolton] struck a bargain with the United States as a condition of his employment in one of the most sensitive and important national security positions in the United States Government and now wants to renege on that bargain by unilaterally deciding that the prepublication review process is complete and deciding for himself whether classified information should be made public,” prosecutors wrote.

Simon & Schuster, the publisher for the memoir, fired back at the lawsuit, accusing the administration of trying to suppress voices that are critical of the president.

“The lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice to block John Bolton from publishing his book, THE ROOM WHERE IT HAPPENED, is nothing more than the latest in a long running series of efforts by the Administration to quash publication of a book it deems unflattering to the President,” Simon & Schuster said in a statement.

“Ambassador Bolton has worked in full cooperation with the [National Security Council] in its pre-publication review to address its concerns and Simon & Schuster fully supports his First Amendment right to tell the story of his time in the White House to the American public.” 

The memoir is expected to excoriate Trump and contain details about the president’s interactions with Ukraine, the basis of his impeachment by the House of Representatives in December.