DIFFICULT TO BLOCK BOLTON BOOK RELEASE, JUDGE SAYS

A federal judge on Friday expressed doubt the White House could keep former national security adviser John Bolton’s memoir out of the public’s hands, after media outlets released excerpts and more than 200,000 copies were distributed.

“The horse, as we used to say in Texas, seems to be out of the barn,” U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington said at a hearing.

Lamberth is weighing the Trump administration’s emergency request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the scheduled June 23 publication of The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir.

The administration says the book contains classified information and threatens national security. Lamberth said he will review the book before ruling.

Bolton’s book has drawn wide attention for its withering portrayal of Trump.

Trump ousted Bolton, a foreign policy hawk, last September after 17 months as national security adviser.

David Morrell, a Department of Justice lawyer, called Bolton a “disgruntled” former employee who should not be “rewarded” for publishing without government clearance required by his nondisclosure agreement.