Trump Nemesis John Bolton Indicted Over Alleged Mishandling of Classified Info
(Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP photo)
Former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton was indicted on Thursday by a grand jury on charges of mishandling classified materials.
Bolton has long been believed to be the next prominent Trump critic who would be indicted following the indictments of ex-FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D). Bolton was indicted by a Maryland grand jury, and the investigation into him was conducted by the U.S. attorney’s office in Maryland. The Comey and James probes, on the other hand, are run by the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia.
CNN sources say the allegations against Bolton surround notes he took for himself while serving as Trump’s national security advisor from April 2018 to September 2019. CNN reported that sources told the network that the DOJ “investigation centers around notes he was making to himself in an AOL email account — at times writing summaries of his activities like diary entries — when he was working for Trump.” Bolton also allegedly shared classified information with his wife and daughter over email, according to CNN.
ABC News, citing “sources familiar with the matter,” reported on some of the details in the indictment, which reportedly “charges Bolton with eight counts of unlawful transmission of national defense information as well as 10 counts of unlawful retention of national defense information.” Bolton and his attorney have both publicly denied he ever mishandled classified material. Bolton and the Trump administration previously clashed over his 2019 memoir, “The Room Where It Happened,” which the Trump administration attempted to prevent from being published, citing national security concerns.
Bolton became a fierce critic of Trump after exiting his role in the White House and repeatedly accused Trump of not being fit for office in the media. Bolton told ABC News in June of 2020 that Trump lacked “the competence to carry out the job.”
Trump was asked for his reaction to the news of Bolton’s indictment in real time as he was taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office. Bolton “was just indicted by a grand jury in Maryland. Do you have a reaction to that?” a reporter asked Trump.
“I didn’t know that. You’re telling me for the first time. But I think he’s, you know, a bad person. I think he’s a bad guy. Yeah, he is a bad guy. It’s too bad, but that’s the way it goes. Have you seen the case against him? That’s the way it goes, right?” Trump replied.
This is a developing story and has been updated.
