Was shocked by
the degree of
sensitivity in these documents
and how many there were, frankly.
And so the government's agenda
was to get those protect those documents
and get them out.
And I think it was perfectly appropriate
to do that.
It was the right thing to do.
And I think the counts
under the Espionage Act
that he willfully retained
those documents are solid counts.
That, of course, was former
Attorney General Bill Barr
saying he's shocked
by how sensitive the documents
are at the center of the new indictment
against his old boss, his old boss,
who defended quite often in the past.
I want to read a specific paragraph
from that indictment
that gets what Barr was talking about.
And it says, quote,
The Justice Department alleges
the documents
included information
regarding defense
and weapons
capabilities of both
the United States and foreign countries,
our nuclear programs,
potential vulnerabilities
of the United States
and its allies to military attack
and plans
for possible retaliation
in response to foreign attack.
Now, it goes on to say, the unauthorized
disclosure of these classified documents
could put at risk the national security
of the United States
foreign relations
and the safety of the United States
military and human sources.
I want to bring in Donald Trump's
former national security adviser,
John Bolton. He joins us now.
He also served as the U.S.
ambassador to the United Nations.
And Ambassador Bolton,
look, you are neither secretive
nor subtle
about your desire
to see the former president
out of the race.
For president or to be a candidate
for president anymore.
And we want to ask about the politics,
because I want to ask you about what
these documents actually mean.
There's a lot of classification
and markings.
There's a lot of
words and descriptions
that people might not understand.
Tell people
from a national security perspective
what's in the documents
laid out in this indictment.
Well, of course,
neither I
nor anybody else
not involved in the case
knows what's in the documents yet.
But I do know what kinds of documents
were put in front of the president
during my time,
I'm sure,
during the entire four years of his term.
And they did go to absolute
the most important secrets
that the United States
has, directly
affecting national security, directly
affecting the lives, lives
and safety of our service members
and our civilian population.
If he has anything
like what the complaint
what the indictment alleges,
and of course, the government
will have to prove it
then, that he has committed
very serious crimes.
This is this is a devastating indictment.
I speak here as an alumnus
of the Justice Department myself,
because not only is
it powerful, it's very narrowly tailored.
They didn't
throw everything up against the wall
to see what would stick.
This really is a rifle shot.
And I think it's
it should be the end of Donald Trump's
political career.
He's obviously made clear
he doesn't think
that's going to be the case.
It should be no surprise to anybody.
But I do want to ask you,
still on the documents,
I know you don't know
the specific documents themselves,
but when you look
at the classification levels.
Can you explain to people
how difficult it would be
for an average government
employee, one,
to have access to them in the first place
and to to be able to get them out of
compartmentalized area
where you're supposed
to be reading secretive documents
Well, it will vary depending
on the level of the employee
and where they are.
My office,
my old office at the White House,
the whole office was a skiff
because we just were drowning
in classified information.
And at least in theory,
the Oval Office
ought to be a pretty safe place, too.
And it's very important, obviously,
to give the president
all the information
he needs
to make a decision, unfortunately.
Trump didn't pay too much attention
to a lot of what he was given,
but he paid enough attention to it
to have a constant fixation
of trying to hold on to documents.
A lot of things we got back from him.
Obviously, a lot of things we didn't.
I've been
interested to
see some of your Republican counterparts
maybe aren't as hyperbolic,
I guess would be the word
on some things related to the former
president saying, look, this isn't great,
but a trial
or an indictment of a former president
and the
the frontrunner
in the Republican
nomination is far worse for the country
than what actually happened here.
How do you what do you make of that?
Well, I don't buy that argument at all.
But but look, give
give those
who are saying it's
some credit, assume, for example,
for the sake of discussion
that Hillary Clinton Joe Biden, Hunter
Biden, fill in the blank,
should should be indicted,
should be prosecuted.
And the failure
to do so constitutes a double standard.
Just assume that for purposes
of discussion.
Now, look at this
indictment of Donald Trump.
Do those people who make that complaint
say, therefore,
the answer is not to prosecute
Donald Trump,
that the response to a double standard
is to move to no standard at all?
Absolutely not.
You know, Republicans used to believe
that not prosecuting criminals
led to more crime.
The answer here is take the politics
out of the decision
and in this case,
proceed with the prosecution
and do the same for anybody else
who does anything even remotely like it.
So then why is every single other top
Republican candidate seemingly
critical of the indictment
and seemingly afraid to attack him on it?
I don't know, honestly.
You know,
we hear a lot
these days about public opinion polls
taken over the weekend.
Political leadership
doesn't take
a public opinion
polls as blocks of granite.
They're interesting
pieces of information.
Political leaders change public opinion.
I think it's critical
for those who seek to be
the Republican nominee
to tell Republican voters
the truth about this indictment.
I wish the RNC could email
a copy of the indictment
to every registered
Republican in the country.
And I'd simply say
I'm not going to make a lot of arguments
with them.
Just read the indictment
and ask yourself
if the government can prove
what they allege here.
Shouldn't this man go to jail?
One of the things that I've been
trying to get my head around
in terms of the scale of
what happened here or what's alleged
here is the why
Why would the president take it?
You know,
there's a lot of theories out there
as to why he would want these documents.
You were with him.
You saw him in action
at a very close level.
Why do you think
what was the intent here?
Well, I'm not sure I can give
you a good answer,
but I would say this
throughout my 17 months there.
It's perfectly clear
that Donald Trump addressed
almost everything that came before him
through the prism of the question,
how does this benefit Donald Trump?
And so I think a lot of these documents
he may have just thought were cool,
a lot of it
he thought might be souvenirs,
a lot of me thought
might be useful to him later.
I can't answer the question
until I see the document.
But,
well,
there are a lot of theories
that he could use it
as information against his enemies,
that he could
give it to people in exchange for favors.
We don't know.
And frankly,
I don't think speculating about
the reasons is all that helpful.
The simple fact
he had the documents for any reason
or no reason
should subject him to prosecution
How do you think this ends
for the former president
Well, I think if I were
an innocent person,
if I were Donald Trump
and I were innocent,
I'd be saying
I want this insult to my integrity.
I use these words loosely removed
as soon as possible.
I'm prepared to waive a lot of frivolous
procedural motions.
I want to go to trial
in the next 60 days.
I don't want to drag this out.
I'm innocent. I can prove it.
Let's go.
Does anybody think Donald Trump's
really going to do that?
I hope the Justice Department
really does try for a speedy trial
because frankly, the sooner
it goes to a jury
and we find out their answer, whatever,
whatever that answer is going to be,
the better for the country.
Justice delayed, as they say,
is justice denied.
And the court
should not let Donald
Trump get the kind of delay I suspect
he wants.
Ambassador John Bolton, thanks so much
for your time, sir.