‘I Was Embarrassed’: Bolton Whines About ‘Low Price’ US Officials Say Was Placed On His Head

The former national security adviser has spent years openly plotting the overthrow of the Iranian government and boasting of the success of his economic warfare against its people.

Trump-era national security adviser John Bolton said Wednesday he’s “embarrassed” by the quantity of money allegedly offered by a man supposedly acting on behalf of the Iranian government in what US officials have sought to portray as a foiled effort to have the former UN ambassador killed.

CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer asked Bolton about the alleged plot on the “Situation Room” program Wednesday:

“The suspect put a $300,000 price tag on your head. What goes through your mind, ambassador, hearing the details of this plot, as explained today in great detail by the US Justice Department?”

“Well, I was embarrassed at the low price,” Bolton responded. “I would have thought it would have been higher. But I guess maybe it was the exchange rate problem or something.”

In 2018, Bolton noted the brutal impact of the so-called ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions regime he helped create at a Jerusalem press conference, boasting to reporters “that the reimposition of the sanctions… is already having a significant effect on Iran’s economy.”

Earlier on Wednesday, the Department of Justice claimed the suspect, Shahram Poursafi, had been plotting a hit on Bolton since October 2021. DoJ officials have characterized the alleged plot as an attempt at payback for the assassination of Qassem Soleimani, the now-deceased leader of the Iranian IRGC’s Quds Force, who is widely credited with vanquishing Daesh* and was murdered in a drone strike in Iraq on former US President Donald Trump’s orders.

A number of journalists and social media users expressed skepticism at the timing and circumstances of the alleged plot on the life of the notoriously hawkish former Trump official.

Mohammad Marandi, an adviser to the Iranian government’s nuclear deal negotiating team, perhaps best summarized such doubts when he asked: “isn't it odd that as we near a potential nuclear deal, the US makes claims about a hit on Bolton... and then this happens?”

I won't be shedding tears for a writer who spouts endless hatred & contempt for Muslims & Islam. A pawn of empire who poses as a Postcolonial novelist.

But, isn't it odd that as we near a potential nuclear deal, the US makes claims about a hit on Bolton... and then this happens? pic.twitter.com/zFu9qhd3Qq

— Seyed Mohammad Marandi (@s_m_marandi) August 12, 2022

Bolton began what would become a standout career in nonstop warmongering – even by DC standards – by graduating from Yale law school and enlisting in the Maryland National Guard in an effort to avoid combat duty in Vietnam, a decision he later chalked up to having “had no desire to die in a Southeast Asian rice paddy.”

As the protege of noted segregationist Sen. Jesse Helms, Bolton worked his way through the ranks of the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and was ultimately tapped for the job of UN ambassador by the younger Bush, before returning to the limelight as Trump’s national security adviser in 2018.

Bolton was fired just a year later by tweet, with Trump noting that he “disagreed strongly” with many of the then-advisor’s suggestions. But he made headlines most recently this July, when he shocked CNN audiences by openly bragging of his skill at manipulating geopolitical affairs. At the time, he claimed he’d “helped plan coups d’etat” in “other places.”

Jake Tapper: "One doesn’t have to be brilliant to attempt a coup."

John Bolton: "I disagree with that. As somebody who has helped plan coup d’etat, not here, but other places, it takes a lot of work." pic.twitter.com/REyqh3KtHi

— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) July 12, 2022

As Reuters explained at the time, “it is highly unusual for US officials to openly acknowledge their role in stoking unrest in foreign countries.”