Mick Mulvaney: John Bolton Committed 'Despicable Acts of Betrayal' by Writing Book

Former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney accused former national security adviser John Bolton of committing "despicable acts of betrayal" when he released a tell-all book that put himself over the president and his service to the United States.

In an op-ed Mulvaney wrote for CNBC he said "Bolton's greatest transgression is not publishing a tell-all book, or even doing so while the president is still in office. Nor is it that he was apparently writing the book while still serving in the West Wing.

"Bolton's cardinal sin is that he put himself before the president, before service, and before the country. He forgot that he was staff, and that he was not the president. In doing so, he just confirmed what those who worked with him already knew: that Bolton was eager to advance his own interests to the exclusion of everything else."

Bolton's book claimed the president asked Chinese President Xi Jinping for help winning his 2020 presidential re-election bid by purchasing soybeans and wheat from the United States to help Trump win votes from farmers.

Mulvaney continued, "I imagine that my colleagues, from both parties and all administrations, cringed as well. Because what John Bolton did is perhaps one of the most classless and despicable acts of betrayal possible by someone allowed inside that inner circle. And it may change the presidency forever."

Mulvaney also ripped Bolton for criticizing Trump's foreign policy positions on Russia, Venezuela, and North Korea.

"That Bolton doesn't like the president's policies should surprise no one. Bolton would likely welcome U.S. military intervention in Venezuela and North Korea, expansion of American military presence in Europe and elsewhere overseas, and perhaps even full-scale war with Iran. The president would prefer none of those things, and has been both clear and consistent in that policy. Importantly, the president got elected on his policies. Bolton did not," Mulvaney said.

Mulvaney added, "John Bolton may feel good about what he has done. And he well may benefit financially. But the presidency, and this nation, are worse for it." 

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