John Bolton, who was once a former national security adviser now-turned Trump critic, turned himself on Friday morning on charges of mishandling classified information, adding another high-profile name to the growing list of Trump-era adversaries facing federal scrutiny. The indictment, filed Thursday, alleges Bolton shared sensitive notes from intelligence briefings and meetings with foreign leaders with his wife and daughter—dubbed his “editors”—for potential use in a book. Bolton’s camp insists he acted lawfully. “I look forward to the fight to defend my lawful conduct and to expose (Trump’s) abuse of power,” he said in a statement, Reuters reported.
What are the charges?
Trump, a Republican who campaigned for the presidency on a vow of retribution after facing a slew of legal woes once his first term in the White House ended in 2021, has actively pursued his attorney general, Pam Bondi, to bring charges against his perceived adversaries. That included pushing Bondi’s Justice Department to bring charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, even driving out a prosecutor he deemed to be moving too slowly in doing so. Bolton served as White House national security adviser during Trump’s first term, before emerging as one of the president’s most vocal critics. Bolton, also a former US ambassador to the United Nations, described Trump as unfit to be president in a memoir he released last year. The investigation of Bolton was opened in 2022, predating the Trump administration. Inside the Justice Department, the case is viewed as stronger than the prosecutions of Comey and James, according to a person familiar with the matter. The indictment of Bolton, filed in federal court in Maryland, charges him with eight counts of transmission of national defence information and ten counts of retention of national defence information, all in violation of the Espionage Act. Each count is punishable by up to ten years in prison, but any sentence would be determined by a judge based on a range of factors. In some of the chats described in the indictment, Bolton and his relatives—who are not identified—discussed using some of the material for a book. Bolton referred to the two people with whom he shared his daily notes as his “editors,” the indictment said. “Talking with (book publisher) because they have a right of first refusal!” Bolton wrote in one message, according to the indictment. The two relatives referred to in the indictment are Bolton’s wife and daughter, two people familiar with the matter said. Asked by reporters at the White House about the Bolton indictment on Thursday, Trump said: “He’s a bad guy.”