Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to his handling of classified information.
The indictment covers 18 counts of retention and transmission of national defense information. According to the indictment, Bolton shared classified information over his personal email that later hacked by Iran, and he sent classified information to unauthorized recipients with messages such as “More stuff coming!!!” and “None of which we talk about!!!”
Bolton has been charged related to the documents probe. He allegedly shared highly classified information with his wife and daughter, according to CNN. The former Trump adviser has previously denied mishandling classified information. He is expected to surrender himself to federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, as soon as Friday.
Bolton was under investigation for his handling of classified materials and subjected to FBI raids on his home in Maryland and office in Washington, D.C. Bureau agents seized multiple documents bearing some level of classified marking.
In a statement, Bolton said he is the victim of a political prosecution.
“For four decades, I have devoted my life to America’s foreign policy and national security. I would never compromise those goals. I tried to do that during my tenure in the first Trump Administration but resigned when it became impossible to do so,” said Bolton in a statement.
“Now, 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,” he said.
Bolton is the third high-profile Trump critic to face charges in recent weeks. New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted last week on fraud charges over a house in Virginia she allegedly claimed as her primary residence on mortgage documents in 2023. At the time, she was serving as New York’s attorney general, a position which requires the official to live in New York.
Since being indicted, James has been outspoken in public that she believes she is a victim of a political prosecution. Critics have pointed to the civil case she brought against President Donald Trump and the nearly half-billion-dollar penalty against him that resulted as a political prosecution that undermines her claims of victimhood.
Former FBI Director James Comey was indicted in late September on charges of giving false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding. Comey has pleaded not guilty.
“No one is above the law,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement at the time. “Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people.”
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