A tell-all book by former National Security Adviser John Bolton was supposed to be released this Tuesday, but his publisher has now delayed it for two months because President Donald Trump is hell-bent on blocking it and the damning impeachment information it contains from being seen by an eager public.
It comes at a time when many people are having to take refuge in their homes due to the coronavirus outbreak. One would think some of those people might want something new to read.
Bolton could have testified and was willing to do so during the Senate impeachment trial, but Republicans refused to call witnesses. Short of his testimony, Bolton included his recollections of Trump’s Ukraine extortion scheme in his manuscript, describing how Trump ordered him to help him pressure Ukraine into investigating his political rivals.
The bombshell revelation that Bolton had pertinent information that could have changed the minds of some Republicans enraged Trump, who repeatedly attacked Bolton and his book on Twitter.
And he has been trying to block publication of the book ever since, according to the Washington Post by claiming “everything he uttered to the departed aide about national security is classified and that he will seek to block the book’s publication, according to two people familiar with the conversations.”
So far, Trump’s meddling is having an effect as the publishers are now delaying the release until May while the White House continues to review the manuscript.
According to CNN:
On Tuesday morning Simon & Schuster adjusted the online pre-order pages for the book and announced May 12 as the new release date.
“The new date reflects the fact that the government review of the work is ongoing,” a company spokesperson said.
Some people who already pre-ordered the book on Amazon received messages on Tuesday letting them know about the new publication date.
Of course, it could be delayed even longer or indefinitely if Trump wants even though nothing Bolton wrote is remotely close to being classified. Trump just wants to keep that particular part of the book secret because he definitely has something to hide. His misconduct with Ukraine should have resulted in his removal from office. If Bolton’s book is read by millions of Americans and it changes their minds about Trump ahead of the election in November, it would be as if Bolton testified. Only it would be the American people who remove him from office instead, especially since all but one Republican in the Senate didn’t have the spine to do it themselves.
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