Former National Security Adviser John Bolton Indicted
Former National Security Adviser John Bolton was indicted on Thursday. A federal grand jury in Maryland indicted Bolton, who served during Trump’s first term from April 2018 to September 2019, on 18 counts related to…
Former National Security Adviser John Bolton was indicted on Thursday.
A federal grand jury in Maryland indicted Bolton, who served during Trump’s first term from April 2018 to September 2019, on 18 counts related to his alleged mishandling of classified information.
“The FBI’s investigation revealed that John Bolton allegedly transmitted top secret information using personal online accounts and retained said documents in his house in direct violation of federal law,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement. “The case was based on meticulous work from dedicated career professionals at the FBI who followed the facts without fear or favor. Weaponization of justice will not be tolerated, and this FBI will stop at nothing to bring to justice anyone who threatens our national security.”
The 26-page indictment alleges Bolton “abused his position as National Security Advisor by sharing more than a thousand pages of information about his day-to-day activities as the National Security Advisor-including information relating to the national defense which was classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level-with two unauthorized individuals.”
During his entire time as National Security Advisor, Bolton regularly sent “diary-like” messages and emails to two individuals related to him by “transcribing his handwritten notes from his day’s activities into word processing documents” that he sent electronically, according to the indictment.
A cyber actor “believed to be associated with the Islamic Republic of Iran” hacked Bolton’s email after he left the government and gained access to the classified information. A representative of Bolton informed the government of the attack in July 2021 but did not mention classified national defense information was contained in the account or that he had previously shared the information with two others, the indictment states.
Bolton faces eight counts of transmission of national defense information (NDI) and 10 counts of unlawful retention of NDI.