Ex-Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton Indicted

A federal grand jury handed down an 18-count indictment Thursday against John Bolton, accusing the onetime national security adviser to President Trump of unlawfully retaining and sharing highly classified material — a case that could result in decades behind bars for the veteran figure in Republican foreign policy circles.

Filed in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, the indictment claims that Bolton used his personal AOL email to send classified national security documents and deliberately transmitted sensitive information to individuals outside of government channels while serving in the first Trump administration.

Prosecutors contend that the 76-year-old former diplomat exchanged documents labeled as “top secret” through email and encrypted messaging apps, revealing intelligence about U.S. military operations, adversarial nations, and diplomatic strategies.

The charges also accuse Bolton, who once served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, of keeping detailed personal notes describing his daily work and private assessments. More than 1,000 pages of those notes were allegedly shared with two close relatives — believed to be his wife and daughter — despite their lack of security clearance or authorization to view the information.

According to the indictment, in July 2021, those classified details were compromised when Bolton’s AOL account was infiltrated by hackers linked to Iran — a regime that has sought to target him since the U.S. strike that killed Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in January 2020.

Federal prosecutors say a representative of Bolton informed the FBI that his email had been hacked but failed to mention that the account contained restricted material or that the hackers now possessed U.S. secrets.

Bolton served as Trump’s national security adviser from April 2018 until September 2019, when he was dismissed. At the time of his departure, he publicly stated that he no longer possessed any classified materials or sensitive notes.

Each of the 18 counts carries a potential 10-year prison sentence.

When questioned about the indictment during an Oval Office exchange Thursday afternoon, Trump said he was unaware of the charges prior to the briefing.
“You are telling me for the first time,” the president remarked. “But I think he’s, you know, a bad person. I think he’s a bad guy. Yeah, he’s bad guy. Too bad — but that’s the way it goes. That’s the way it goes.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi hailed the indictment as proof that justice is impartial, declaring, “there is one tier of justice for all Americans.”
“Anyone who abuses a position of power and jeopardizes our national security will be held accountable,” she said. “No one is above the law.”

FBI Director Kash Patel, joining Bondi in a joint statement, added, “Weaponization of justice will not be tolerated, and this FBI will stop at nothing to bring to justice anyone who threatens our national security.”

Federal agents executed search warrants at Bolton’s Maryland residence and his Washington, D.C., office on August 22 as part of a probe that FBI sources told The Post had been “shelved” during the Biden administration.

During those raids, investigators reportedly seized documents tied to weapons of mass destruction, U.N. operations, secret government communications, and confidential travel briefings, according to court filings.

Even if Bolton did not intend to disclose the sensitive information, prosecutors note he can still be held criminally responsible if such materials were accessible to others — a rule that extends to electronic communications through personal accounts.

Agents were further instructed to examine whether Bolton’s devices contained malware or programs that could enable remote access, as well as to determine whether he had taken any cybersecurity precautions. It remains unclear if any such software was discovered.

Bolton’s indictment — coming after his break with Trump and subsequent criticism of the administration — follows other high-profile prosecutions, including perjury and obstruction charges against former FBI Director James Comey and a bank fraud case against New York Attorney General Letitia James, both filed in Virginia.

Bolton had previously been scrutinized in 2020 over alleged mishandling of classified material in connection with his White House memoir, The Room Where it Happened.

At that time, the Trump administration argued that the manuscript contained restricted national security information. Bolton’s legal team countered that a National Security Council official had reviewed the text for months and later indicated it no longer included any classified content.

However, an affidavit later unsealed revealed that another National Security Council reviewer believed the manuscript still held “significant amounts” of restricted information, including some labeled top secret.

Bolton’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, responded that much of the material seized in the August search had already been cleared during the government’s pre-publication review for the book and that many of the items were decades old, dating back to Bolton’s earlier government service as a State Department official, assistant attorney general, and U.N. ambassador.

{Matzav.com}