Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned John Bolton as “a traitor who damaged America” with his memoir while denying the veracity of his explosive account.
“It is both sad and dangerous that John Bolton’s final public role is that of a traitor who damaged America by violating his sacred trust with its people,” Pompeo said in a Thursday evening release.
Bolton, the former White House national security adviser, rocked domestic and international politics by writing a book that portrays the president as ignorant, venal, and indifferent to any U.S. interests beyond the 2020 reelection campaign. In that effort, the book also purports to raise the curtain on Pompeo’s personal disagreements with President Trump, with potentially damaging ramifications for the secretary’s relationship with the White House.
“I’ve not read the book, but from the excerpts I’ve seen published, John Bolton is spreading a number of lies, fully-spun half-truths, and outright falsehoods,” Pompeo said in a statement released under the heading “I Was In The Room, Too.”
Bolton’s book, The Room Where It Happened, is set to be available to the public next week, but the Trump administration is suing in federal court to block its release. The volume contains anecdotes that could damage Pompeo’s standing with Trump, including an allegation that Pompeo described Trump’s North Korea strategy as having “zero probability of success.”
At another juncture, Pompeo is quoted as saying that Trump’s cancellation of an airstrike was a “really dangerous” decision. He is also depicted calling Republican senators to stoke congressional opposition to prospective policies he opposes.
“To our friends around the world: you know that President Trump’s America is a force for good in the world,” Pompeo said Thursday.
