On Friday, former national security adviser John Bolton appeared at a federal courthouse, turning himself in to face allegations of improperly keeping top secret documents at his residence. The charges also accuse him of sharing diary-esque notes containing classified information with family members.
Bolton, who served under the Trump administration, refrained from speaking to the media as he entered the courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland. There, he was scheduled for an initial court appearance regarding the 18-count indictment filed against him just a day earlier.
The case highlights serious concerns about the handling of classified materials, particularly after Bolton’s email was reportedly hacked by operatives believed to be tied to Iran. Prosecutors allege that this breach provided access to sensitive information Bolton had shared. Although a representative for Bolton informed the FBI in 2021 about the hack, they allegedly did not disclose that classified information had been compromised or that the hackers accessed government secrets.
Bolton, a prominent figure in Republican foreign policy known for his strong advocacy of American power, served in President Trump’s administration for more than a year before being dismissed in 2019. Following his departure, he published a book that was highly critical of Trump.
This case marks the third legal action in recent weeks against an individual perceived as a political adversary of Trump. It unfolds amidst ongoing debate over whether the Justice Department is being used as a tool to target political opponents of the former president, while potentially overlooking misconduct by his allies.
In a statement, Bolton commented on the situation, saying, “Now, I have 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.”
Even so, the indictment is significantly more detailed in its allegations than earlier cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Unlike in those cases filed by a hastily appointed U.S. attorney, Bolton’s indictment was signed by career national security prosecutors. While the Bolton investigation burst into public view in August when the FBI searched his home in Maryland and his office in Washington, the inquiry was well underway by the time Trump had taken office in January.
Sharing of classified secrets
The indictment filed in federal court in Greenbelt, 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 U.S. 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.
The indictment says that among the material shared was information about foreign adversaries that in some cases revealed details about sources and methods used by the government to collect intelligence.
The two family members were not identified in court papers, but a person familiar with the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic details, identified them as Bolton’s wife and daughter.
The indictment also suggests Bolton was aware of the impropriety of sharing classified information with people not authorized to receive it, citing an April news media interview in which he chastised Trump administration officials for using Signal to discuss sensitive military details. Though the anecdote is meant by prosecutors to show Bolton understood proper protocol for government secrets, Bolton’s legal team may also point to it to argue a double standard in enforcement because the Justice Department is not known to have opened any investigation into the Signal episode.
Bolton’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement that the “underlying facts in this case were investigated and resolved years ago.”
He said the charges stem from portions of Bolton’s personal diaries over his 45-year career in government and included unclassified information that was shared only with his immediate family and was known to the FBI as far back as 2021.
“Like many public officials throughout history,” Lowell said, “Bolton kept diaries – that is not a crime.” He said Bolton “did not unlawfully share or store any information.”
Controversy over a book
Bolton suggested the criminal case was an outgrowth of an unsuccessful Justice Department effort after he left government to block the publication of his 2020 book “The Room Where It Happened,” which portrayed Trump as grossly misinformed about foreign policy.
The Trump administration asserted that Bolton’s manuscript contained classified information that could harm national security if exposed. Bolton’s lawyers have said he moved forward with the book after a White House National Security Council official, with whom Bolton had worked for months, said the manuscript no longer had classified information.
In 2018, Bolton was appointed to serve as Trump’s third national security adviser. His brief tenure was characterized by disputes with the president over North Korea, Iran and Ukraine. Those rifts ultimately led to Bolton’s departure.
Bolton subsequently criticized Trump’s approach to foreign policy and government in his book, including by alleging that Trump directly tied providing military aid to Ukraine to that country’s willingness to conduct investigations into Joe Biden, who was soon to be Trump’s Democratic 2020 election rival, and members of Biden’s family.
Trump responded by slamming Bolton as a “washed-up guy” and a “crazy” warmonger who would have led the country into “World War Six.”
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