Headline RoundupSeptember 23rd, 2020

Former NSC Official Alleges Politicized White House Interference in Bolton Book Review

Donald Trump, Justice Department, National Security Council, John Bolton, White House, Politics

Summary from the AllSides News Team

On Wednesday, former National Security Council official Ellen Knight accused the White House of playing an “unprecedented” and “outsize role in the review process” of former national security adviser John Bolton’s book. Knight alleges that after she reviewed the book for classified information, other White House officials conducted their own “fundamentally flawed” reviews and marked “hundreds of passages” as potentially classified. Several officials then allegedly asked Knight to aid the administration’s lawsuit against Bolton by admitting a mistake in her review. Knight allegedly refused to cooperate and was later fired from her position. Coverage in some left-rated outlets used sensationalist words like “extraordinary,” “scathing” and “blasted.” Fox News and Washington Times were the only right-rated outlets to do original reporting on the news; the Times focused specifically on the Justice Department's rebuttal to Knight's claim. Some right-rated voices have given opinions on “tell-all” books about President Donald Trump, referencing Bolton's and journalist Bob Woodward’s latest releases. Editor's note: Updated 9/23/20 at 3:34 p.m. ET to include examples of right-rated coverage, which were published after this headline roundup was initially created.

Featured Coverage of this Story

From the Left

White House Accused of Improperly Politicizing Review of John Bolton’s Book

New York Times (News)

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New York Times (News)

News

White House aides improperly intervened to prevent a manuscript by President Trump’s former national security adviser John R. Bolton from becoming public, a career official said in a letter filed in court on Wednesday, accusing them of making false assertions and trying to coerce her to join their efforts, and suggesting that they retaliated when she refused.

In an extraordinary 18-page document, a lawyer for the official who oversaw the book’s prepublication review, Ellen Knight, portrays the Trump administration as handling its response to the book in bad faith. Her...

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From the Left

Official says White House political appointees "commandeered" Bolton book review

Axios

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Axios

News

A former career official at the National Security Council claims her pre-publication review of former national security adviser John Bolton's explosive book on President Trump was "commandeered by political appointees for a seemingly political purpose," according to a letter from her lawyers filed in court on Tuesday.

Why it matters: The White House fought against the publication of Bolton's book for most of the year on the grounds that it contained harmful and "significant amounts of classified information."

According to Knight's lawyers, White House aides falsely asserted that details in...

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From the Center

Ex-NSC official alleges 'unprecedented' intervention by White House aides in Bolton book review

The Hill

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The Hill

News

A former National Security Council (NSC) official says the White House intervened in “unprecedented” fashion in the prepublication review process of former national security adviser John Bolton’s book in an effort to deem information classified and prevent the memoir’s publication.

Kenneth Wainstein, a lawyer for Ellen Knight, a career federal employee and a former NSC senior director who led the prepublication review of Bolton’s book, filed a letter in federal court Wednesday detailing Knight’s concerns with the actions of White House officials in the review of Bolton’s memoir, “The...

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