Ex-national security adviser John Bolton indicted in classified documents case : NPR

Former national security advisor John Bolton speaks at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, on February 17, 2020.

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Logan Cyrus/AFP via Getty Images

John Bolton, who served as national security adviser during President Trump’s first term before becoming an outspoken critic, was charged Thursday with 18 counts related to his mishandling of classified documents.

Details of the indictment filed in Maryland District Court charging Bolton with eight counts of transmitting national defense information and 10 counts of unlawful retention of such information. Each charge faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.

In a statement, the Justice Department said Bolton illegally transmitted classified information using personal email and messaging apps, including “U.S. intelligence on future attacks, foreign adversaries, and foreign policy relationships.”

“There is one level of justice for all Americans,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “Anyone who abuses a position of power and endangers our national security will be held accountable.”

The charges come about two months after the FBI executed a search warrant at Bolton’s home in suburban Washington. Court documents said agents recovered documents marked classified, including references to weapons of mass destruction.

Bolton served in Trump’s first term in the White House for just over a year, but has since become a harsh critic of the president. He has said he believed Trump would use the Justice Department to implement a “retaliatory presidency.”

The investigation against Bolton dates back to before Trump returned to office. Bolton’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said the charges in the case were “resolved years ago.” He said the charges arise from documents linked to Bolton’s personal diaries and never included classified information.

“Like many public officials throughout history, Ambassador Bolton kept diaries; that is not a crime. We hope to demonstrate once again that Ambassador Bolton did not illegally share or store any information,” Lowell said in a statement.

Bolton was one of the former administration officials whose security clearances Trump removed when he returned to office. Trump also revoked Bolton’s security team, which was in place due to threats from Iran.

Bolton published The room where it happened in 2020, a memoir about his time in the White House that criticized Trump’s approach to foreign policy and the presidency in general.

The Trump administration sued to try to block the book’s publication, alleging that Bolton had not gone through the proper clearance process and that his manuscript contained classified information. A judge denied that request but said Bolton’s conduct raised national security concerns. The Biden administration dismissed the lawsuit and prosecutors dropped a grand jury investigation the following year.

The charges against Bolton follow two other recent indictments, including that of former FBI Director James Comey, another Trump critic, on one count of making false statements and one count of obstruction of justice in connection with his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee nearly five years ago.

And a grand jury last week indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James on one count of bank fraud and one count of making a false statement to a financial institution. James, a Democrat, pledged to investigate Trump and won a case against him and his company for inflating the value of some of his properties.

Trump had publicly called on the Justice Department to prosecute James and Comey in a social media post last month; Bolton was not included in that publication.

The indictments came after the top federal prosecutor in Northern Virginia cast doubt on the evidence against Comey and James, only to be forced to resign by the president and replaced by one of Trump’s former defense lawyers.