Bolton Claims Trump Said Reporters ‘Should Be Executed,’ Requested DOJ Seek Jail Time

OPINION | This article contains commentary which reflects the author's opinion.

OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.

🚨 POLL: Will Bolton say anything to sell a book?

Only Valid Emails Have Vote Counted

[mo-optin-form id=”KfpGksLOSJ”]

🚨 POLL: Will Bolton say anything to sell a book?

Only Valid Emails Have Vote Counted

[mo-optin-form id=”VBmTNDcWUS”]

John Bolton’s new memoir, “The Room Where It Happened,” alleges that Trump once said that reporters “should be executed,” and requested his counsel to contact the Justice Department to discuss whether jailing journalists would be possible, according to Fox News.

Bolton’s forthcoming book has already been obtained by Fox News and purportedly details unreported instances with President Trump.

The Trump administration claims that the book contains confidential information, and for that reason, it has taken steps towards blocking the publication.

In the book, Trump’s alleged comments about reporters were actually in the middle of a meeting to discuss Afghanistan.

“As the discussion proceeded, Trump said at one point, ‘Making a bad deal is worse than just getting out. I’d rather not make a deal.’ I thought this comment provided a glimmer of hope,” Bolton wrote. “But before we got too far, Trump shifted again to complain about leaks, including that CNN had earlier reported this very meeting.”

“’These people should be executed, they are scumbags,’ he said, but then observed it was ‘not a bad thing that the news [was] out’ that we were talking about Afghanistan,” Bolton wrote.

“This led to one of Trump’s favorite legal gambits, namely, that the Justice Department arrest the reporters, force them to serve time in jail, and then demand they disclose their sources. Only then would the leaks stop.”

“Trump told [White House counsel Pat Cipollone] to call Barr about it, which Cipollone said he would do,” Bolton wrote.

Trump took to Twitter to explain that the book is “pure fiction,” and noted that Bolton is “trying to get even” after he fired him from his post last year.

“Bolton’s book, which is getting terrible reviews, is a compilation of lies and made up stories, all intended to make me look bad,” Trump tweeted. “Many of the ridiculous statements he attributes to me were never made, pure fiction.”

He added: “Just trying to get even for firing him like the sick puppy he is!”

Bolton said, “I don’t think he’s fit for office. I don’t think he has the competency to carry out the job,” Bolton said. “There isn’t really any guiding principle that I was able to discern, other than what’s good for Donald Trump’s reelection.”

“When Wacko John Bolton went on Deface the Nation and so stupidly said that he looked at the ‘Libyan Model’ for North Korea, all hell broke out. Kim Jong Un, who we were getting along with very well, went ‘ballistic’, just like his missiles – and rightfully so,” Trump tweeted.

“He didn’t want Bolton anywhere near him. Bolton’s dumbest of all statements set us back very badly with North Korea, even now. I asked him, ‘what the hell were you thinking?’ He had no answer and just apologized. That was early on, I should have fired him right then & there!” he continued.

More from Fox News:

The Justice Department is seeking an emergency injunction preventing the release of Bolton’s book, saying he had deliberately bypassed the necessary classification review process and that his manuscript still contains classified information.

Bolton served as national security adviser from April 2018 to September 2019 and was the United States ambassador to the United Nations in the George W. Bush administration.