It used to be that when civil servants left a White House administration, they would go away quietly — at least until the sitting president left office. But it seems that one former national security adviser in particular sees it as his duty to tear down the credibility of the same Executive Branch, as he’s fond of reminding everyone, that he’s served since President Ronald Reagan sat behind the Resolute Desk. Though President Trump booted John Bolton out last September, he refuses to stray from the media’s glare.

As my colleague Bonchie reported just yesterday, John Bolton was untruthful – one way or another – in comments he made on Sunday shows this week about the Russia bounty story. Previously, Bolton said that he didn’t know anything about the intelligence report or whether Pres. Trump had been told about its contents. Then word came on Tuesday that Bolton not only says he knew about the document, but that he personally briefed the president.

Meanwhile, as Bolton was tying himself in knots Sunday, the intelligence story was obliterated by solid reporting from CBS News’ Catherine Herridge, as RedState reported.

But the fake ‘Russia bounty’ story is too good for the mainstream media to let go that quickly. Monday night, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), otherwise known as “He Who Loves Congressional Hearings Just to Needle Orange Man Bad,” told CNN’s Jim Acosta:

“It is frequently the case that the President should be briefed on matters where there is no absolute certainly about the intelligence on a given topic.

It’s not sufficient to say we didn’t tell him because we couldn’t dot every I, cross every T, prove every point. … If it goes to the protection of our troops, that’s something that needs to be briefed to the commander in chief.”

Now, taking up that narrative, Bolton’s at it again, this time in a new interview with CBS News’ Major Garrett:

NEW: @AmbJohnBolton to @MajorCBS on Russian Bounties: "You don't take everything into the president, but when [U.S.] troops are threatened by an adversary like Russia in this way…it’s something the president needs to take into account." pic.twitter.com/y1UfCjyBHg

— The Takeout w/ Major Garrett (@TakeoutPodcast) July 1, 2020

Bolton said, in part:

“You don’t take everything in to the president. But when American troops are threatened by an adversary like Russia in this way, if there’s any indication that this is an ongoing operation, it’s something the president need to take into account….But to say, ‘We don’t give it to him until we’re completely satisfied — that didn’t reflect how I operated.”

And there’s this tidbit recycling that old nugget about Trump’s disinterest in intelligence briefings:

But guess what? These are just preview clips. The full interview with Garrett airs Thursday and Friday, conveniently stretching last weekend’s nothingburger into a full-week narrative for the mainstream hacks who dine out on stuff like this. Go figure.