John Bolton, former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, pleaded not guilty Friday to 18 counts related to mishandling classified information.
Bolton, 76, stood before Judge Timothy Sullivan at the federal district courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland, and declared himself “not guilty” during his initial court appearance and arraignment, just before 11:30 a.m.
The former Trump adviser, sitting beside his attorney Abbe Lowell, responded that he understood the charges against him, with each count carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. If found guilty, Bolton could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Shortly after, Judge Sullivan said Bolton could be released so long as he surrendered his passport to the court, preventing him from flying outside of the United States.
Bolton, a former adviser-turned-Trump critic, is the latest person to be indicted by the Justice Department, which the president has promised to use in a retribution campaign against his perceived enemies.
On Thursday, a grand jury in Maryland returned an 18-count indictment against Bolton on accusations that he unlawfully retained and shared national defense information using his personal email and a messaging app.
The indictment alleges Bolton shared more than 1,000 pages of “diary” notes about his daily activities with family members while serving as Trump’s national security adviser in 2018 and 2019.
The former adviser has denied any wrongdoing and accused Trump of “weaponizing” the DOJ to “charge those he deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts.”
Trump fired Bolton in 2019 after repeatedly clashing with him over foreign policy issues. Since then, the former adviser has become an outspoken Trump critic, claiming his former boss was “unfit” to be president, and subscribes to “chaos as a way of life.”
When asked about Bolton’s charges Thursday, Trump referred to his former national security adviser as a “bad guy.”
Although Bolton is on Trump’s perceived list of enemies, the probe into his handling of classified information began after Bolton published his 2020 memoir,The Room Where it Happened, that detailed his time working in the administration and was highly critical of Trump.
In June 2020, a judge determined Bolton “likely jeopardized national security by disclosing classified information in violation of his nondisclosure agreement obligations” in his book. However, the following year, the Department of Justice under the Biden administration, closed the case.
Bolton’s attorney, Lowell, has insisted Bolton has not broken the law. “The underlying facts in this case were investigated and resolved years ago," Lowell said in a statement.
Lowell is also representing other people recently indicted by the administration and targeted by Trump including former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.
While Bolton joins Comey, also a perceived enemy from Trump’s first administration, in being indicted, the charges against Bolton were brought differently.
Career prosecutors in Maryland investigated and charged Bolton with the 18-count indictment following normal procedure. But Trump had to fire and replace a prosecutor in Virginia who refused to bring charges against Comey, citing lack of evidence, in order to obtain charges against the former FBI director.
Due to the complexities of handling classified documents, it’s likely Bolton’s case will take more time before heading to trial.
His next court date is scheduled for November 21.
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