John Bolton, former US National Security Adviser under President Donald Trump and now a prominent critic of the president, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Maryland, according to a report by CNN. Bolton faces 18 charges in total, eight counts of transmitting national defense information and ten counts of unlawfully retaining such information.
The indictment, as cited by CNN, alleges that during his time in the White House, Bolton shared “more than a thousand pages of information about his day-to-day activities” with two individuals who were not authorised to receive classified material. Prosecutors confirmed both recipients were family members without the necessary security clearance.
Additionally, investigators discovered printed pages of Bolton’s personal “diary” entries at his residence, according to the court documents.
He is expected to surrender at the federal courthouse in Greenbelt as early as Friday. The case has been assigned to Judge Theodore D. Chuang, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2014.
FBI Director Kash Patel commented, “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. The case was based on meticulous work from dedicated career professionals at the FBI who followed the facts without fear or favour. Weaponisation of justice will not be tolerated, and this FBI will stop at nothing to bring to justice anyone who threatens our national security.”
CNN also noted that Bolton becomes the third high-profile political opponent of Trump to be indicted in the past month, amid growing scrutiny over his handling of sensitive material.
Sources told CNN that Bolton is alleged to have communicated classified information with his wife and daughter via email. Part of the Justice Department’s investigation focused on an AOL email account Bolton maintained, which contained summaries of his daily activities during his time in office, effectively serving as personal diary entries.
Earlier this summer, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Bolton’s Maryland home and Washington, DC, office. Court filings revealed the seizure of several documents marked “secret,” “confidential,” and “classified,” including some reportedly relating to weapons of mass destruction.
(With Inputs from ANI)