White House tells Bolton his manuscript contains classified material, cannot be published

The letter from the White House National Security Council to Bolton's attorney, Charles Cooper, and seen by Reuters, said the manuscript contained some material that was considered "TOP SECRET" that could reasonably be expected to cause "exceptionally grave harm" to U.S. national security if disclosed without authorization.

uh oh. Bolton's atty and Bolton's publisher got some splainin to do.

The letter, which was sent via email to Cooper, was dated Jan. 23.
[...]
The letter, signed by Ellen Knight, the senior director for records, access and information security management, said Bolton's manuscript was still being studied.

"The manuscript remains under review in order for us to do our best to assist your client by identifying the classified information within the manuscript," it said. "We will do our best to work with you to ensure your client's ability to tell his story in a manner that protects U.S. national security."

hmm, I'd had the impression from press reporting on the whistleblower-who-must-not-be-named's expert counsel that IC, NSC, NSA had a veritable mill running out clean manuscripts for ret'd officers.