US Department of Justice Launches Investigation into National Security Leak in Bolton Memoirs

Investigation Launched Three Months After June Publication

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The U.S. Department of Justice has launched an investigation into whether former White House National Security Council (NSC) advisor John Bolton leaked national classified information through his memoir.

Books titled "The Room Where It Happened" by former White House National Security Advisor John Bolton are stacked in front of a bookstore at Yale University in New Haven, USA. (Photo by Baek Jong-min)

On the 15th (local time), according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and the New York Times (NYT), the Department of Justice recently convened a federal grand jury and obtained subpoenas ordering Bolton's memoir publisher Simon & Schuster and the public relations agency Javelin to submit all communication records with former advisor Bolton.

According to sources, federal prosecutors already sent subpoenas to Simon & Schuster and Javelin on the 14th, requesting the submission of materials. However, it is reported that no subpoena has been issued to Bolton personally.

Published in June, the book became a bestseller, selling over 770,000 copies in its first week, despite warnings about leaking national secrets during the Trump administration and attempts to seek a publication ban, which was overturned by court rulings allowing its sale.

At that time, U.S. District Judge Lois Lambis of Washington D.C. permitted the publication but criticized Bolton, stating that "Bolton could endanger national security" and "Bolton gambled with the national security of the United States."

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