#John Bolton thinks Trump is ‘worried’ about Americans reading his book before election

John Bolton thinks President Trump is aggressively attacking his book because he’s “worried” about having the “facts out on the record.”

“The president months ago said he intended to make sure this book did not come out before the election and he knows why,” Trump’s former national security adviser told ABC News’ Martha Raddatz Thursday in another excerpt of an interview airing on Sunday night.

“Because he knows it will be factual and he doesn’t want the facts out on the record,” Bolton continued. “The president isn’t worried about foreign governments reading this book. He’s worried about the American people reading this book.”

In addition to Trump’s personal attacks against Bolton, his administration has gone to extensive lengths to try to stop Bolton and his publisher, Simon & Schuster, from releasing his bombshell tell-all, “The Room Where It Happened,” later this month.

The Justice Department filed a federal lawsuit against Bolton on Tuesday to try to block the book’s publication and, on Wednesday, requested an emergency court order as an additional measure.

Trump earlier Thursday tweeted that Bolton is a “sick puppy” who filled his book with “lies and made up stories, all intended to make me look bad.”

John Ratcliffe, Trump’s director of national intelligence, issued a statement Wednesday night saying Bolton’s “unauthorized disclosures of classified information damages our national security.”

But Bolton insisted that the administration’s efforts weren’t about national security, saying in the ABC interview clip that he went through a rigorous, four-month review to make sure his book didn’t include any classified information.

“When I wrote the book, to begin with, I was very conscious to avoid putting in anything that I thought could be deemed classifiable,” he said.

Bolton added that he wouldn’t dignify Trump with a response to personal attacks against him.

“I think it’s unbecoming of the office of president,” Bolton said. “I think it degrades the political civil discourse in our country and [I’m] just not going to respond to him.”