refused<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to issue any order to restrain further distribution of the book, which has been sent to bookstores and media outlets around the country and world.<\/p>\nU.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth denied the U.S. Justice Department\u2019s request for a temporary restraining order. Only Bolton, and not his publisher, Simon & Schuster, was named as a defendant. The government argued that any restraining order would require Bolton to take steps to stop the further distribution of his book \u201cThe Room Where It Happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith hundreds of thousands of copies around the globe\u2014many in newsrooms\u2014the damage is done. There is no restoring the status quo,\u201d Lamberth said in Saturday\u2019s order. He called a restraining order at this point an \u201cuntimely solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, Lamberth, who heard arguments for two hours Friday, said in his order that the Justice Department is likely to prevail ultimately in the litigation on the claim that Bolton breached agreements that required him to have written authorization before publishing his behind-the-scenes account of his time as national security adviser.<\/p>\n
Bolton\u2019s book has been widely portrayed as an unflattering snapshot of Trump and his decision-making. Bolton asserts that Trump, among other things, sought help from China for the upcoming elections, according to media reports.<\/p>\n
Bolton\u2019s lawyer, Chuck Cooper of Washington\u2019s Cooper & Kirk, has disputed the book contains any classified information. Bolton spent months working with a career official to revise the manuscript. It was only after being told the book did not contain classified information that his publisher moved forward. A Trump national security official, Michael Ellis, subsequently said the book still contained information that was not permitted to be released.<\/p>\n
Bolton\u2019s nondisclosure agreements, the judge said, \u201cbarred publication of classified materials. Bolton likely published classified materials. The government is likely to succeed on the merits.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnilateral fast-tracking carried the benefit of publicity and sales, and the cost of substantial risk exposure,\u201d Lamberth wrote. \u201cThis was Bolton\u2019s bet: If he is right and the book does not contain classified information, he keeps the upside mentioned above; but if he is wrong, he stands to lose his profits from the book deal, exposes himself to criminal liability, and imperils national security. Bolton was wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read the order:<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Royce](\"https:\/\/images.law.com\/contrib\/content\/uploads\/sites\/398\/2017\/11\/lamberth-Article-201711032233.jpg\" "\\"Royce")
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington. (Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi \/ ALM)<\/i><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n