This archive report was first published on 23 June 2020.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has sparked controversy by comparing John Bolton's explosive tell-all account to Edward Snowden's disclosure of state-backed mass surveillance.
Speaking to Fox News on Monday, Pompeo said that Bolton's book, 'The Room Where It Happened,' contains information that 'puts criminal liability squarely on him.'
He added that the release of classified information is comparable to the actions of Edward Snowden, a former US intelligence contractor who revealed in 2013 that US agents from the National Security Agency (NSA) were carrying out widespread surveillance on citizens.
Snowden has been living in exile in Russia since his revelation and faces up to 30 years in prison for espionage and theft of state secrets.
However, Bolton's book is an account of his 17 months serving as National Security Advisor and contains allegations that President Donald Trump is not 'fit for office.'
The book also describes the president 'pleading' with his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping to help boost his chances of re-election in November.
Over the past few days, Trump and his team have vacillated between denouncing the book as 'fiction' and claiming it is full of highly sensitive, classified information.
On Saturday, a US judge refused to block the book's release, saying it was too late for a restraining order.
