DOJ closes its criminal investigation into Bolton’s book
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has closed its criminal investigation into whether a disparaging memoir by former President Donald Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton illegally disclosed classified information, and it is finalizing a deal to drop its lawsuit aimed at recouping profits from the book, according to two people briefed on the matter.
The agreement would end an effort that began under the Trump administration to silence Bolton and sue him over the book’s profits. Ending both the inquiry and the lawsuit is a clear rebuke by Attorney General Merrick Garland of the Trump Justice Department’s tactics in the matter.
The legal action against Bolton began this past year after Trump pressured White House aides and Justice Department officials to use their powers to stop Bolton from publishing his book about his time working in Trump’s White House, “The Room Where It Happened.” In June 2020, the Justice Department sued Bolton, seeking to stop the publication of the memoir and to recoup profits he made from it; a judge ruled that the department could continue to seek the profits but could not stop its publication.
It was revealed in September that the Justice Department had opened a criminal investigation into whether Bolton had unlawfully disclosed classified information in the book — an inquiry that started after the Trump administration failed to halt its publication. As part of the investigation, the department issued a grand jury subpoena to the book’s publisher, Simon & Schuster, for communications records about the memoir.
The book depicted Trump as a corrupt leader who put his personal and financial interests above the country’s national security.
The Justice Department moved ahead with its lawsuit seeking to seize Bolton’s profits, and with the criminal investigation, including taking the unusual step of subpoenaing Simon & Schuster.
The Biden Justice Department had spent recent weeks negotiating the terms of the settlement with Bolton’s legal team, according to a person briefed on the matter.