Former Trump adviser John Bolton indicted over classified documents

Former National Security Adviser John Bolton has been indicted in Maryland on 18 felony counts related to the alleged mishandling of classified information, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

A federal grand jury charged Bolton, 76, of Bethesda, Maryland, with eight counts of transmission of national defense information (NDI) and ten counts of unlawful retention of NDI.

The indictment accuses him of transmitting and storing highly classified materials through personal online accounts and at his residence in violation of federal law.

FBI Director Kash Patel said investigators found that Bolton allegedly sent top secret information through personal email and messaging accounts and kept documents at his home containing intelligence on foreign adversaries.

“Weaponization of justice will not be tolerated, and this FBI will stop at nothing to bring to justice anyone who threatens our national security,” Patel said.

According to the indictment, the documents allegedly transmitted by Bolton included details about foreign adversaries, potential future attacks, and intelligence-gathering methods. Other materials found in his home contained information about foreign leaders and sources used to obtain classified statements.

Bolton served as President Donald Trump’s national security adviser from 2018 to 2019 and was previously U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush. He left the first Trump administration after disputes over foreign policy and later published a memoir, The Room Where It Happened, which drew scrutiny from the Justice Department over classified material.

Asked about the indictment during a briefing at the White House, President Trump said he had not been aware of the charges.

“I did not know that, you tell me for the first time, but I think he is, you know, a bad person. I think he is a bad guy,” Trump said. “Too bad but it’s the way it goes.”

Bolton’s indictment follows that of former FBI Director James Comey three weeks earlier on charges of giving false statements and obstruction of justice