John Bolton, the former U.S. national security advisor, has entered a plea of not guilty in response to federal allegations concerning his management of classified materials.
Bolton appeared at the federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland, on Friday to formally submit his plea to the charges against him.
He is charged with eight counts related to the transmission of national defense information and ten counts for the unlawful retention of such information, each count carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years. Conviction on all counts could result in a life sentence.
Throughout his career, Bolton has held significant roles under four Republican presidents: assistant attorney general under Ronald Reagan, diplomat during George H.W. Bush’s administration, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under George W. Bush, and national security advisor for Donald Trump.
However, it is Bolton’s contentious history with Trump that has sparked debate over whether his prosecution is politically driven.
Allegations of Political Retaliation
Bolton’s indictment is the latest in a series of legal actions targeting prominent critics of Trump, following the appointment of Lindsey Halligan, one of Trump’s personal attorneys, as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Since Halligan took office on September 22, she has initiated criminal proceedings against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both of whom have had public disputes with Trump.
Comey oversaw the FBI’s investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, a probe Trump frequently dismissed as a politically motivated attack. Trump ultimately dismissed Comey in 2017, early in his presidency.
Meanwhile, Letitia James led a civil fraud lawsuit accusing Trump and his organization of inflating asset values to secure favorable loans. In 2024, a court initially ordered Trump to pay $364 million in damages, though this was later overturned as excessive.
Last month, Trump publicly urged the Department of Justice to prosecute his political adversaries, naming both James and Comey in a social media post directed at Attorney General Pam Bondi.
In his post, Trump claimed, “They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done,” and accused the previous U.S. attorney in Virginia of telling him there was “no case.” He added, “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!) OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”
Bolton’s Complex Relationship with Trump
Although Bolton was not mentioned in Trump’s social media remarks, his own fraught relationship with the former president is well documented.
Known for his aggressive foreign policy stance, particularly regarding Iran, Bolton served as Trump’s national security advisor from 2018 to 2019, becoming the third person to hold the position within two years.
There remains ambiguity over whether Bolton resigned or was dismissed, with Trump asserting he fired Bolton, while Bolton claims he stepped down voluntarily.
Trump publicly criticized Bolton’s hawkish approach, once tweeting (now deleted) that following Bolton’s advice would have led to “World War Six.”
In his 2020 memoir, The Room Where It Happened, Bolton accused Trump of making decisions driven by personal gain and lacking a grasp of international affairs, even alleging that Trump sought China’s assistance to improve his reelection chances.
Bolton stated, “He couldn’t tell the difference between his personal interests and the country’s interests.”
Following his White House tenure, Bolton frequently appeared on news programs as a vocal critic of Trump’s policies.
Details of the Charges
After Trump’s inauguration for a second term in January, Bolton was among the first former officials to face scrutiny from the new administration.
On January 21, Trump revoked Bolton’s security clearance, a move Bolton condemned, especially given the assassination attempt he reportedly faced from Iranian operatives.
Bolton expressed disappointment on social media, noting that the Justice Department had charged an Iranian Revolutionary Guard official in 2022 for attempting to hire a hitman to target him, a threat he said still exists.
In August, FBI agents conducted a search of Bolton’s residence in Bethesda, Maryland, seizing computer drives and multiple boxes of documents.
The 26-page indictment, unveiled on Thursday, escalates the investigation by accusing Bolton of misusing his position as National Security Advisor by sharing over a thousand pages of classified information-including materials marked TOP SECRET/SCI-with two unauthorized individuals.
Additionally, the indictment alleges Bolton unlawfully retained national defense documents, including diary-like handwritten notes later digitized and electronically transmitted to the recipients, who U.S. media reports suggest may be Bolton’s wife and daughter.
The document also mentions that after leaving office, Bolton was targeted by a cyber actor believed to be linked to the Iranian government, potentially compromising the classified materials in his possession.
Critics highlight that Trump himself faces charges related to classified documents, with authorities recovering approximately 33 boxes and 11,000 records from his Mar-a-Lago estate. Prosecutors had accused Trump of attempting to conceal these documents, though the case was dropped due to Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.
Since taking office, Trump administration officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, have been criticized for sharing sensitive military information via the messaging app Signal, with some data inadvertently leaked to journalists.
Bolton publicly condemned the Signal leaks, remarks which were cited in the indictment to demonstrate his awareness of proper security protocols for handling classified information.
He was quoted saying, “I couldn’t find a way to express how stunned I was that anybody would do this. You simply don’t use commercial means of communication, whether it’s supposedly an encrypted app or not, for these kinds of discussions.”
Bolton denies all allegations and characterizes the recent prosecutions as part of Trump’s strategy to intimidate his political opponents.
“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,” Bolton stated.
