By Ex-Trump adviser John Bolton to plead guilty to retaining classified information, sources say
John Bolton is facing a single count of retaining classified information. (AP: Michael Dwyer)
In short:
Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton has reached a deal with the US Justice Department to plead guilty to a single count of retaining classified information, US media is reporting.
Mr Bolton, who served for a year in Donald Trump’s first administration before being fired, is now a prominent critic of the president.
What’s next?
The deal means Mr Bolton could avoid jail time, according to a source.
Donald Trump’s ex-national security adviser, John Bolton, has agreed to plead guilty to a single count of retaining classified information under a deal with the US Justice Department that could allow him to avoid prison time, US media outlets are reporting.
The deal would resolve a criminal case filed in October that charged Mr Bolton with 18 counts of either retaining or disseminating classified information, including diary-like notes from his time in government that officials say he shared with his family members as he was preparing a memoir about his time in office.
Under the agreement, the former national security adviser would also face a $US2.25 million ($3.15 million) fine, several sources have told news agences.
Any prison sentence would be capped at five years, but the agreement allows for him to avoid time behind bars, though the punishment will ultimately be up to a judge.
The FBI conducted a high profile search of John Bolton’s home in August last year as part of the classified documents case. (Reuters: Tasos Katopodis)
The case against Mr Bolton, filed weeks after prosecutors secured indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, unfolded against the backdrop of concerns that the Justice Department was using its law enforcement powers to pursue perceived adversaries of US President Donald Trump.
The investigation burst into public view last August when FBI agents served search warrants at his Maryland home and Washington office, but it had been well underway by the time Mr Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.
Mr Bolton is a longtime fixture in Republican foreign policy circles who became known for his hawkish views on American power.
He served for more than a year in Mr Trump’s first administration before being fired in 2019 and publishing a critical book that portrayed the Republican president as deeply misinformed and painted an unflattering portrait of his leadership and decision-making.
Mr Trump’s administration fought unsuccessfully to block the publication of The Room Where it Happened on the grounds that the book risked disclosing classified information.
The plea deal that Mr Bolton will enter covers the notes he shared with relatives as opposed to information published in the tell-all book.
A re-arraignment, which typically signals a plea agreement, is scheduled for June 26 in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The Justice Department declined to comment.
Diary notes include detailed US government plans
The indictment’s 18 counts carried a threat of a substantial prison sentence in the event of conviction.
Court documents alleged that he shared with two family members “diary-like” entries with information classified as high as top secret that he had learned from meetings with other US government officials, from intelligence briefings or talks with foreign leaders.
John Bolton, far left, served as a national security adviser in Donald Trump’s first administration. (Reuters: Leah Mills)
After sending one document, Mr Bolton wrote in a message to his relatives, “None of which we talk about!!!”
In response, one of his relatives wrote, “Shhhhh,” prosecutors said.
The indictment said that among the material shared was information about foreign adversaries that in some cases revealed details about sources and methods used by the US government to collect intelligence.
One document related to a foreign adversary’s plans for a missile launch, while another detailed US government plans for covert action and included intelligence blaming an adversary for an attack, court papers say.
In a statement released after his indictment, Mr Bolton described the charges as part of an “intensive effort” by Mr Trump to intimidate his opponents, to ensure that he alone determines what is said about his conduct.”
‘A washed up guy’
Mr Bolton also served in the Department of Justice during President Ronald Reagan’s administration and was a State Department point person on arms control during George W. Bush’s presidency.
He was nominated by Mr Bush to serve as US ambassador to the United Nations, but the strong supporter of the Iraq War was unable to win Senate confirmation.
He resigned after serving 17 months through a recess appointment that allowed him to hold the job on a temporary basis without Senate approval.
In 2018, Mr Bolton was appointed to serve as Mr Trump’s third national security adviser. His brief tenure was characterised by disputes with the president over North Korea, Iran and Ukraine.
Those rifts ultimately led to Mr Bolton’s departure, with Mr Trump announcing on social media in September 2019 that he had accepted his resignation.
Mr Bolton subsequently criticised the US president’s approach to foreign policy and government in his book, including by alleging that Mr Trump directly tied providing military aid to Ukraine to that country’s willingness to conduct investigations into Joe Biden, who was soon to be Mr Trump’s Democratic rival in the 2020 presidential election, and members of the Biden family.
Mr Trump responded by slamming Mr Bolton as a “washed-up guy” and a “crazy” warmonger who would have led the country into “World War Six.”
AP
Originally published on www.abc.net.au — View original