Former National Security Adviser John Bolton's new memoir about his time in the Trump administration contains "nuggets of classified information," according to former acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Genell on Newsmax TV.
"I think we no longer have a Republican versus Democrat fight, we have a Washington versus the rest of America fight," Grenell told Monday's "American Agenda." "Clearly, if someone is not willing to testify under oath, but they're willing to testify under a book deal it's problematic."
He said later, "I haven't read the book, I haven't seen the full copy of the book, but I have seen the excerpt. And, in the excerpts, it's clear that there are nuggets of classified information, and there very well could be a huge problem with this. So, I leave it to [the Department of Justice] and the DoJ officials. Attorney General [William] Barr is fully capable, and I know that their team is looking at this, and they will make those determinations."
When asked how well Bolton fit in in the Trump administration, Grenell said the president likes "to see a variety of viewpoints presented to him. I've been in plenty of meetings with him where he goes around and asks, and really probes, and asks the prosecutorial-type questions of people. It is a process that can be uncomfortable for people who are used to the normal political briefings, because the president acts like a businessman, he wants to get to the bottom of it, he wants to understand what's going on."
Grenell added, "at the end of the day, anyone who works for the president has to understand that it's the president's policies that were on the ballot in November of 2016. He's the one that won, and he's the one that created the vision. Anyone who tries to think that they can impact President Trump and change his views because they have a certain viewpoint, that person is wrong. And I think what happened with John is that he entered the administration with a very clear understanding of his policies, but a not very clear understanding of what Trump's policies were."
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Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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