Former NSC Official: "White House Fabricated 'Classified Leak' to Block Bolton Memoir Release"

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] The White House has been accused of fabricating an internal analysis claiming concerns over classified information leaks in order to block the publication of former National Security Advisor John Bolton's memoir, "The Room Where It Happened."

According to the Associated Press on the 23rd (local time), Ellen Knight, a former White House National Security Council (NSC) staff member who was in charge of the analysis before the release of Bolton's memoir, submitted a statement to the federal court detailing these claims.

In her statement, she said, "Before the memoir's publication in June, the review process and measures to prevent classified information leaks were already completed by the end of April."

She emphasized that she reviewed 500 pages of the manuscript over four months until concluding there was no issue with the memoir's publication, and that she met or spoke with Bolton several times.

However, she revealed that the subsequent process was driven by political motives.

She claimed that after a person closely connected to President Donald Trump's inner circle was appointed as the NSC legal counsel, despite lacking relevant experience, they unilaterally concluded that Bolton's memoir contained classified information.

She further alleged that after failing to produce analysis results useful for lawsuits against Bolton by the White House and the Department of Justice, she was reassigned to other duties and faced disadvantages.

In response, the NSC and the Department of Justice have strongly denied Knight's claims.

The NSC stated, "Many officials do not agree with her statement," and countered, "The claim that the memoir review was conducted with political motives is not true."

Kerry Kupek, spokesperson for the Department of Justice, also said, "Knight's statement proves that Bolton's memoir did not receive proper publication approval," adding, "Moreover, it is natural that the NSC made efforts to prevent classified information leaks."

Meanwhile, the Trump administration previously filed a lawsuit to block the publication of Bolton's memoir, and Bolton requested the court to dismiss the lawsuit in response.