John Bolton Hits Back After Federal Indictment

Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton was charged Thursday with 18 counts of retention and transmission of national defense information, according to unsealed court documents. Bolton, who served in Trump's first administration and later became a vocal Trump critic, is accused of storing top secret records at home and sharing with relatives diary-like notes about his time in government that contained classified information, the AP reports.

• The 18-count indictment also suggests classified information was exposed when operatives believed to be linked to the Iranian regime hacked Bolton's email account and gained access to sensitive material he had shared. A Bolton representative told the FBI in 2021 that his email had been hacked, prosecutors say, but did not reveal he had shared classified information through the account or that the hackers now had possession of government secrets.
• In a press release, the Department of Justice said Bolton faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison on each of the eight counts of transmission of national defense information and 10 counts of unlawful retention of NDI.

• The indictment, filed in federal court in Maryland, alleges that between 2018 and this past August, Bolton shared with two relatives more than 1,000 pages of information about his day-to-day activities in government.
• The material included "diary-like" entries with information classified as high as top secret that he had learned from meetings with other US government officials, from intelligence briefings, or talks with foreign leaders, according to the indictment. After sending one document, Bolton wrote in a message to his relatives, "None of which we talk about!!!" In response, one of his relatives wrote, "Shhhhh," prosecutors said.

• Abbe Lowell, Bolton's attorney, said Thursday that the allegations "were investigated and resolved years ago," the Washington Post reports. He said the charges relate to "portions of Amb. Bolton's personal diaries over his 45-year career—records that are unclassified, shared only with his immediate family, and known to the FBI as far back as 2021."
• In a statement, Bolton said the charges aren't just about Trump's "focus on me or my diaries, but his intensive effort to intimidate his opponents," adding: "Dissent and disagreement are foundational to America's constitutional system, and vitally important to our freedom. I look forward to the fight to defend my lawful conduct and to expose his abuse of power."
• Bolton said he has "become the latest target in weaponizing the Justice Department to charge those he deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts." The indictment, however, is significantly more detailed in its allegations than earlier cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, the AP reports. Unlike the other two cases filed over the last month by a hastily appointed US attorney, this one was signed by career national security prosecutors.