A grand jury assembles today to decide on potential charges against former national security advisor John Bolton, who is under scrutiny for allegedly disclosing classified information. This follows an FBI raid conducted two months ago at Bolton’s residence in Maryland, seeking documents deemed ‘highly sensitive’ to national security.
According to sources cited by the New York Post, the Department of Justice is expected to file an indictment against the 76-year-old either on Wednesday or Thursday. These sources describe the case against Bolton as ‘ironclad.’ The allegations claim that Bolton improperly used his personal email to extract confidential information and meticulously documented his daily activities during his tenure.
Bolton, who joined the Trump administration in April 2018, served as a national security advisor until his dismissal by the former president in September 2019. Known for his hardline military stance, Bolton frequently disagreed with Trump’s preference for diplomatic approaches, particularly regarding countries like North Korea and China.
In the raid on his home, FBI agents removed a white binder with a the label ‘statements and reflections to allied strikes’. Typed documents stuck in folders labeled ‘Trump I-IV’ were taken from Bolton’s home, as well as four boxes containing ‘printed daily activities’, a DOJ filing said.
The former UN ambassador had two iPhones, four computers and hard drives, and two USB drives stripped from his property. The FBI warrant also authorized agents to press Bolton’s fingers onto devices if his fingerprints were needed to unlock certain devices.
Moreover, agents were allowed to hold his devices in front of Bolton’s face to unlock them with facial recognition. The warrant was approved by a federal magistrate with the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
The probe into Bolton was first launched in 2020, but it was quashed during President Joe Biden’s administration for ‘political reasons.’ However, FBI Director Kash Patel reopened the high-profile case.
Once privy to some of the most classified information in the world, Trump’s Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard stripped Bolton of his security clearance. The investigation also focuses on Bolton’s use of classified documents while writing his memoir The Room Where It Happened.
The 2020 book was critical of Trump’s handling of foreign policy during his first term in the White House. Bolton regularly appears in TV interviews criticizing Trump’s national security strategy and foreign policy.
And in response, Bolton has become one of the former officials that the president has taken aim at since getting back into office nine months ago.
