The Department of Justice filed an 18-count indictment against John Bolton on Thursday. He served as Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor from 2018 to 2019 and is now one of Trump’s harshest critics.
The indictment claims Bolton shared personal diary entries with two unnamed people. These notes allegedly contained sensitive national security information. The DoJ said Bolton violated the Espionage Act, which punishes mishandling and leaking classified information.
Trump Reacts
Trump told reporters he was unaware of the indictment but called Bolton a “bad guy.” The investigation began during the Biden administration after disclosures that worried U.S. intelligence officials.
Details of the Indictment
The Justice Department said Espionage Act cases apply when there are “aggravating factors,” like willful mishandling of classified material or disloyalty.
The indictment says, “BOLTON took detailed notes documenting his day-to-day meetings, activities, and briefings,” and that he often rewrote his handwritten notes into a computer document. It also stated, “The notes that BOLTON sent to Individuals 1 and 2 using his non-governmental personal email accounts described in detail BOLTON’s daily activities as the National Security Advisor.”
Bolton allegedly sent more than a thousand pages of notes through personal emails and a group chat. The indictment added, “On or about September 24, 2019, fourteen days after he was no longer employed as the National Security Advisor, BOLTON left the messaging chat group with Individuals 1 and 2.”
Bolton’s Defense
Bolton’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said, “These charges stem from portions of Ambassador 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.”
Lowell added, “Like many public officials throughout history, Ambassador Bolton kept diaries – that is not a crime.”
The FBI previously searched Bolton’s home in Maryland and office in Washington. They seized papers, computer files, and other materials. Some had only low-level classification marks.
Bolton Accuses Trump of Retaliation
Bolton said he had become the “latest target” in Trump’s use of the Justice Department. He told CNN, “For four decades, I have devoted my life to America’s foreign policy and national security. I would never compromise those goals.”
He said Trump’s retaliation started when he resigned and escalated after his book The Room Where It Happened came out. “Donald Trump’s retribution against me began then, continued when he tried unsuccessfully to block the publication of my book before the 2020 election, and became one of his rallying cries in his re-election campaign,” Bolton added.
He accused Trump of abusing power, saying, “Now, I have become the latest target in weaponising the Justice Department to charge those he deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts.” Bolton ended with a historical quote: “The president embodies what Joseph Stalin’s head of secret police once said: ‘You show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime’.”