John Bolton, once a key figure as Donald Trump’s national security adviser and now a formidable critic, is expected to admit to mishandling classified documents. The seasoned diplomat, now 77, plans to plead guilty to a single charge of unlawfully retaining sensitive national security documents, as reported by CNN.
Initially, Bolton faced a daunting 18-count indictment last year concerning his improper handling of classified materials. However, in a significant turn of events, he has reached an agreement to plead guilty to one of these charges. As part of this arrangement, he will pay a hefty $2 million fine, sources have disclosed.
The charge Bolton faces carries a serious penalty, with the potential for a prison sentence of up to five years.
This legal maneuver follows accusations that Bolton kept classified documents at his residence in Bethesda, Maryland. Prosecutors assert that he retained over a thousand pages detailing his daily operations while serving in his high-profile role.
The deal comes after Bolton was charged with allegedly keeping classified material at his home in Bethesda, Maryland.
Prosecutors claim he withheld ‘more than a thousand pages of information about his day-to-day activities.’
He used his personal email account to share the sensitive materials with two unauthorized individuals. According to CNN, those individuals were his wife and daughter.
Bolton was initially charged with 18 counts: eight counts for transmission of national defense information and ten for retention of national defense information.
John Bolton, 77, served as national security adviser during Donald Trump’s first term from 2018 to 2019. The President announced Bolton’s firing on social media at the time
Bolton had policy disputes with the President over Iran, North Korea and Afghanistan
The original 18-count indictment alleged that Bolton used his personal email and a messaging app to circulate over 1,000 pages of notes, including sensitive information.
He is scheduled to appear for a hearing on June 26, according to court documents.
Bolton, who worked for Trump during his first term from 2018 to 2019, was unceremoniously fired via social media after having policy disputes over Iran, North Korea and Afghanistan.
Less than a year after his firing, Bolton released a tell-all book about his time in Trump’s administration, titled The Room Where It Happened.
The memoir was highly critical of the President, and Trump slammed Bolton around the time it was published in June, 2020.
‘Washed-up creepster John Bolton is a lowlife who should be in jail, money seized, for disseminating, for profit, highly classified information,’ Trump wrote.
The President also gave multiple interviews at the time, in which he doubled down on calls to imprison Bolton.
‘He released massive amounts of classified, and confidential, but classified information. That’s illegal and you go to jail for that,’ Trump said during a 2020 Fox News interview.
Less than a year after his firing, Bolton released a tell-all book about his time in Trump’s administration, titled The Room Where It Happened, which was very critical of the President
The Department of Justice under Trump’s first term opened criminal and civil probes into Bolton over the book in 2020, but the inquiries were halted within a year.
The DOJ under Joe Biden later opened a new inquiry into Bolton the following year.
Bolton’s reported plea deal marks a victory for the Trump administration’s efforts to prosecute its political opponents.
Trump has also pursued cases against his first-term FBI director, James Comey, for alleged threats and lying to Congress; New York Attorney General Letitia James, who sued the President; and Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, who led an impeachment inquiry against Trump. All maintain their innocence.
