John Bolton, the former national security adviser under President Donald Trump who later became a sharp critic, was charged Thursday with unlawfully storing top secret records at home and sharing diary-like notes about his government work with relatives that contained classified information, according to an 18-count federal indictment.
Bolton’s Indictment Details And Alleged Iranian Email Hack
Prosecutors say the materials included more than 1,000 pages describing sensitive meetings, intelligence briefings and interactions with foreign leaders. Some entries were marked top secret. In messages cited by prosecutors, Bolton cautioned a relative after sending one document, "None of which we talk about!!!," to which the relative replied, "Shhhhh."
As noted in an Associated Press report, the indictment also alleges that classified information may have been exposed when operatives believed to be linked to Iran hacked Bolton's email account and accessed sensitive material he had shared.
A Bolton representative told the FBI in 2021 that his emails were compromised, prosecutors say, but did not disclose that he had circulated classified information through the account or that foreign hackers might now possess government secrets.
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Why The Case Carries Sharp Political Overtones
Filed in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, the case sets up a closely watched test of a Republican foreign-policy heavyweight known for hawkish views who served in Trump's first term before being fired in 2019 and publishing a scathing memoir.
Unlike two recent prosecutions of Trump adversaries, this indictment was signed by career national-security prosecutors, though it arrives amid broader claims that the Justice Department is targeting the president's political critics while going easier on allies.
Thursday's filing lays out granular allegations and evidentiary detail that surpass the comparatively spare charging documents in the recent cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Unlike those indictments, which critics have described as thin, the Bolton case is signed by career national-security prosecutors and, in its scope and specificity, invites comparison to special counsel Jack Smith's document-heavy prosecutions.
Bolton's Defense And Justice Department's Response Claims
Bolton denied wrongdoing and cast the charges as political. In a defiant statement, he called the case part of an "intensive effort" by Trump to "intimidate his opponents," echoing his long-running dispute with the White House over classification questions surrounding his 2020 book.
The charging documents also point to evidence that Bolton understood classification rules. Prosecutors cite an April media interview in which he chastised Trump admin officials for discussing sensitive military matters on the encrypted messaging app Signal, an anecdote the government says highlights his awareness that sharing secrets with unauthorized people is improper.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the case reflects a single standard of accountability. "There is one tier of justice for all Americans… No one is above the law," she said.
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