The Department of Justice has closed its criminal investigation into whether John Bolton leaked classified information in his memoir, The New York Times reports. It also ended its lawsuit to have Bolton forfeit any profits from the book to the DOJ. The settlement is the result of an internal review conducted by President Joe Biden's administration, which contended that former President Donald Trump acted politically in trying to keep Bolton quiet. It also concluded that, by allowing the lawsuit over profits to continue, it could unfairly embarrass the Trump administration by exposing those political tactics.

Bolton, who served as Trump's national security adviser, faced backlash from the former president over his 2020 memoir The Room Where It Happened, with Trump trying to get the White House and DOJ to shut down the publication of the book. In it, Bolton relayed tales of his time in the administration, including his perspective on meetings between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the Ukraine scandal that led to Trump's first impeachment.