The White House has sent a letter to John Bolton’s lawyer objecting to “classified information” at the Top Secret level in the manuscript of his forthcoming book.
The finding could delay the book’s publication if Mr Bolton is forced to revise the draft.
But the former US national security adviser and his lawyer insist that the book does not contain any classified information.
The book is under pre-publication review by the NSC, a process that senior White House officials agree to in order to gain access to classified information.
Mr Bolton left the White House last September and says he resigned. US President Donald Trump says he was fired.
Mr Trump’s impeachment trial is shifting to questions from senators, as Republicans lack the votes to block witnesses and face a potential setback in their hope of ending the trial with a quick acquittal.
Despite Mr Trump’s defence team’s plea for it to “end now” Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell privately told senators he does not yet have the votes to brush back Democratic demands for witnesses amid Mr Bolton’s revelations.
But they are warned by Republican party leaders that calling Mr Bolton as a witness could entangle the trial in lengthy legal battles and delay Mr Trump’s expected acquittal.
One key Republican, senator Susan Collins, gave fresh momentum to a one-for-one witness deal saying it’s “very important that there be fairness, that each side be able to select a witness or two”.
But Democrats dismissed those offers, especially as Republicans want to draw Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, deeper into the proceedings.
“It’s irrelevant. It’s a distraction,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
Mr Bolton writes in a forthcoming book that Mr Trump told him he wanted to withhold military aid from Ukraine until it helped with investigations into Mr Biden.
That assertion, if true, would undercut a key defence argument and go to the heart of one of the two articles of impeachment against the president.
“I think Bolton probably has something to offer us,” said Republican senator Lisa Murkowski.
Mr Trump disagreed in a tweet in which he complained that Mr Bolton, after he left the White House, “goes out and IMMEDIATELY writes a nasty & untrue book. All Classified National Security”.
….many more mistakes of judgement, gets fired because frankly, if I listened to him, we would be in World War Six by now, and goes out and IMMEDIATELY writes a nasty & untrue book. All Classified National Security. Who would do this?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2020
One Democrat, the centrist senator Joe Manchin, said he’d would not have a problem hearing from Hunter Biden, who was on the board of a Ukrainian gas company, but doubted it will happen.
The witness swaps seem likely to fail as most Republican senators do not want to call Mr Bolton and most Democrats would rather avoid dragging the Bidens further into the impeachment proceedings. The Bidens were a focus of defence arguments though no evidence of wrongdoing has emerged.
