White House bars Bolton book release over 'top secret' material

• The National Security Council said after preliminary review of the manuscript -- a vetting process applied to any White House employees writing books -- that it contained "significant amounts of classified information."

WASHINGTON: The White House on Wednesday said that former national security advisor John Bolton cannot publish in its current form a book reportedly containing explosive evidence concerning President Donald Trump's impeachment trial.

The National Security Council said after preliminary review of the manuscript -- a vetting process applied to any White House employees writing books -- that it contained "significant amounts of classified information."

"Some of this information is at the TOP SECRET level," the NSC said in a letter to Bolton's lawyer Charles Cooper, adding that "the manuscript may not be published or otherwise disclosed without the deletion of this classified information."