Conway swipes at Bolton record, says Trump national security gains were 'before he got there or after he left'

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Kellyanne Conway on Bolton allegations: These books are never fact-checked

Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Trump, responds to claims made by John Bolton ahead of his book release.

Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway sought Thursday to diminish John Bolton's record as President Trump's national security adviser, telling "Special Report" that many of the administration's "national security accomplishments ... happened before he got there or after he left."

"When people do tell-all books, I prefer that they tell us all what they accomplished in those positions," Conway told host Bret Baier while discussing Bolton's forthcoming memior, "The Room Where It Happened."

"I also would point out, and others have done this," Conway added, "that Ambassador Bolton, John Bolton had many nice things to say about this president."

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Conway noted that in August 2018, Bolton told reporters in the White House briefing room that Trump had "taken decisive action to defend our election systems from meddling and interference."

"In his book," she told Baier, "he claims that the president is asking President Xi [of China] to help him win farmers in the Midwest. This makes no sense."

Conway was referring to a claim by Bolton that during a conversation between Trump and Xi at last year's G-20 summit, Trump "turned the conversation to the coming ... presidential election, alluding to China's economic capability to affect the ongoing campaigns, pleading with Xi to ensure he'd win. He stressed the importance of farmers, and increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat in the electoral outcome."

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Conway went on to claim that "these books are never fact-checked," pointing out to Baier that former FBI director James Comey famously "lied" to him during a 2018 interview over his knowledge of who funded the infamous Steele dossier.

"You're saying that in this book there are lies and that his perception is not accurate?" Baier asked Conway.

"No, I didn't say it was all lies. What I said was it's important to put it all in the perspective of the tenure that he had there," Conway said. "What has happened since he left and the fact that he didn't raise any of this in a meaningful way while he was there."

Fox News' Gregg Re and John Roberts contributed to this report.