The investigation is a significant escalation in the fraught publication of the book. The Trump administration had sought to stop its publication, accusing Mr. Bolton in a lawsuit of moving forward with publication without receiving final notice that a prepublication review to scrub out classified information was complete. The director of national intelligence referred the matter to the Justice Department last month, two of the people said. John Demers, the head of the department’s national security division, then opened the criminal investigation, according to a person briefed on the case..Mr. Bolton has denied that he published classified information. Representatives for the Justice Department, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Security Council declined to comment.

Source: New York Times September 15, 2020 15:11 UTC