MARYLAND (LOOTPRESS) – John Bolton, who served as national security adviser under President Donald Trump before becoming one of his most outspoken critics, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Maryland.
The indictment lists 18 charges against Bolton, including eight counts of transmitting national defense information and 10 counts of retaining national defense information.
Prosecutors allege that while serving in the White House, Bolton shared “more than a thousand pages of information about his day-to-day activities” with two individuals who were not authorized to receive classified material.
Both individuals were reportedly relatives of Bolton.
Investigators also discovered printed “diary” entries in Bolton’s home, according to the indictment. He is expected to surrender to authorities at the federal courthouse in Greenbelt as early as Friday.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2014.
“The FBI’s investigation revealed that John Bolton allegedly transmitted top secret information using personal online accounts and retained said documents in his house in direct violation of federal law,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement.
“The case was based on meticulous work from dedicated career professionals at the FBI who followed the facts without fear or favor. Weaponization of justice will not be tolerated, and this FBI will stop at nothing to bring to justice anyone who threatens our national security.”
Bolton issued a statement Thursday night calling the indictment politically motivated. He said he had “become Trump’s latest target in the weaponization of his Justice Department.”
Bolton also defended the publication of his 2020 memoir, The Room Where It Happened, saying it was cleared by “the appropriate, experienced career clearance officials” before release.
He added that the FBI had been informed of a 2021 hack of his personal email and noted that no charges were brought against him during Trump’s administration.
Bolton is the third prominent critic of Trump to face federal charges in the past month.
