The US Department of Justice has sued former Trump national security advisor John Bolton in connection with an upcoming publication of his White House memoir, NBC reported.

"The United States is not seeking to censor any legitimate aspect" of the manuscript, the Justice Department lawsuit says. It claims, instead, that Bolton hasn't finished with the review process required of any author who had a government security clearance.

The lawsuit requires a federal judge for an order directing Bolton to urge him to delay publication until the process is done. 

"The law in this area is clear. Except in very rare circumstances, the courts cannot stop a publisher from publishing materials in advance," said Mark Rasch, a former federal prosecutor.

"That would be a prior restraint. While the government might be able to prosecute Bolton after the fact if he released truly classified materials, every time the government has tried to prevent someone from publishing what they believe to be classified, they have lost," said Rasch, who is now with Kohrman, Jackson and Krantz, a Cleveland-based law firm.