Justice Department drops Trump-era lawsuit against John Bolton over book royalties

The Justice Department has agreed to drop a lawsuit against former Trump national security adviser John Bolton, which sought to grab royalties from him for publishing his book without full approval.

The publication of the book, which was deeply critical of then-President Donald Trump, also prompted prosecutors in the previous administration to claim they believed Bolton may have revealed national security secrets with its publication. Bolton maintained he had not, and a government classification expert had come to his defense.

The Bolton book — a damaging moment for Trump politically during an election year — is one of the episodes that garnered significant criticism of the Trump administration’s politicization of the intelligence community and Justice Department.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.