Judge Rejects Trump Bid to Ban Bolton's Book

A US judge has rejected a request by President Donald Trump to stop the publication of a memoir by his former National Security Adviser, John Bolton.

The justice department argued that the book had not been properly vetted.

Washington DC District Court Judge Royce Lamberth said the government had "failed to establish that an injunction would prevent irreparable harm".

Bolton had "gambled" with US national security and already "exposed his country to harm", the judge said.

Hundreds of thousands of copies of the book - The Room Where It Happened - have been printed and distributed, and are due to go on sale on Tuesday.

In the memoir, Bolton paints an unflattering picture of a president whose decision-making was dominated by a desire to be re-elected in November.

Trump has said the book is "made up of lies and fake stories".

A US judge has rejected a request by President Donald Trump to stop the publication of a memoir by his former National Security Adviser, John Bolton.

The justice department argued that the book had not been properly vetted.

Washington DC District Court Judge Royce Lamberth said the government had "failed to establish that an injunction would prevent irreparable harm".

Bolton had "gambled" with US national security and already "exposed his country to harm", the judge said.

Hundreds of thousands of copies of the book - The Room Where It Happened - have been printed and distributed, and are due to go on sale on Tuesday.

In the memoir, Bolton paints an unflattering picture of a president whose decision-making was dominated by a desire to be re-elected in November.

Trump has said the book is "made up of lies and fake stories".

Shortly after the decision, Trump alleged on Twitter that Bolton "broke the law by releasing Classified Information (in massive amounts)".

"He must pay a very big price for this, as others have before him. This should never happen again!!!" the president added.

Later, the president called the ruling a "BIG COURT WIN against Bolton".

A lawyer for Bolton, Charles Cooper, welcomed the judge's decision to deny the injunction request.

However, he took issue with the conclusion that his client did not comply fully with his contractual pre-publication obligation to the government.

"The full story of these events has yet to be told - but it will be," he added.

Bolton's publisher, Simon & Schuster, said: "We are grateful that the Court has vindicated the strong First Amendment protections against censorship and prior restraint of publication."

Source: BBC