Pompeo calls Bolton 'a traitor who damaged America' over his explosive new book

• Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement on Thursday ahead of the June 23 publication of John Bolton's explosive new book, calling the former national security adviser a "traitor who damaged America by violating his sacred trust with its people."
• "I've not read the book, but from the excerpts I've seen published, John Bolton is spreading a number of lies, fully-spun half-truths, and outright falsehoods," Pompeo wrote.
• Pompeo's statement comes as the Trump administration is urgently trying to stop the publication of Bolton's bombshell book, claiming that it still contains classified information that Bolton is publishing without permission.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement on Thursday ahead of the publication of former national security adviser John Bolton's explosive new book, saying that although he has not yet read the book, it is riddled with "number of lies, fully-spun half-truths, and outright falsehoods."

Bolton's tell-all book "The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir" is set to be released on June 23.

In his statement, titled "I Was In The Room Too," Pompeo said that Bolton was a "traitor who damaged America by violating his sacred trust with its people."

"I've not read the book, but from the excerpts I've seen published, John Bolton is spreading a number of lies, fully-spun half-truths, and outright falsehoods," Pompeo wrote.

"It is both sad and dangerous that John Bolton's final public role is that of a traitor who damaged America by violating his sacred trust with its people," he continued. "To our friends around the world: you know that President Trump's America is a force for good in the world."

Pompeo's statement comes as the Trump administration urgently trying to stop the publication of Bolton's bombshell book, claiming that it still contains classified information that Bolton is publishing without permission.

The Department of Justice, supported by top Trump intelligence officials, filed for an emergency restraining order to halt the book's release and called for the hearing to take place on Friday.

According to CNN's Brian Stelter, Simon & Schuster, the publisher of Bolton's memoir, called the DOJ filing "a frivolous, politically motivated exercise in futility."

"Hundreds of thousands of copies of the book have already been distributed around the country and the world," the publisher said.

The Trump administration filed a lawsuit against Bolton on Tuesday to prevent the book's publication, accusing Bolton of breaching his contract and compromising national security.

Bolton's lawyer Chuck Cooper published an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal last week accusing the White House of blocking the publication of the book. Cooper said Trump officials were using national security "as a pretext to prevent the publication" of the memoir.

The New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal published excerpts from the book on Wednesday, which included allegations that Trump wanted to "give personal favors to dictators he liked," and that Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to purchase large quantities of American soybeans in order to help his 2020 reelection prospects.