JUDGE JUNKS TRUMP BID TO STOP RELEASE OF BOLTON’S BOOK

A US judge refused Saturday (Sunday, June 21, 2020 in Manila) to block the release of a tell-all book in which President Donald Trump's former national security advisor describes him as corrupt and incompetent, Daniel Woolls reported for the Agence France Presse (AFP).

With John Bolton's book already widely shipped to stores for sale next week, Judge Royce Lamberth wrote that it is too late for a restraining order sought by the Trump administration to halt the process, saying “the horse has been out of the barn.”

Lamberth said Bolton appeared to have failed to obtain a written White House agreement that his memoir contained nothing classified. "While Bolton's unilateral conduct raises grave national security concerns, the government has not established that an injunction is an appropriate remedy," the judge wrote.

He said a review of passages that the government contends contain classified material had persuaded him that Bolton "likely jeopardized national security through publication." Despite failing in the attempt to have the book halted, Trump quickly took to Twitter to hail a "big court win" against Bolton, surprising even the judge and much of the media covering the issue.