(Greenbelt) Donald Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton arrived in federal court Friday to turn himself in to authorities after facing charges.
Bolton, who later became a critic of the president, is accused of emailing classified information to family members and keeping top secret documents at his Maryland home.
He did not comment to reporters as he entered court in Greenbelt, Maryland, where he must appear for the first time before a judge to answer the 18 charges against him.
This is the third criminal case brought in recent weeks by the Justice Department against an opponent of Mr. Trump. Some increasingly fear that the Republican president will use law enforcement to take revenge on his perceived enemies.
“I am now the latest target for using the Justice Department to indict those it considers its enemies with charges that were previously dismissed or misrepresented,” Bolton said in a statement after a grand jury returned the indictment Thursday.
John Bolton is accused of sharing with his wife and daughter more than 1,000 pages of notes containing sensitive national defense information, collected during meetings with other U.S. government officials and foreign leaders, or during intelligence briefings.
Authorities say some of that information came to light when agents suspected of being linked to the Iranian government hacked into Bolton’s email account, which he used to send diary-like notes about his activities to loved ones.
The 76-year-old, a historic figure in Republican foreign policy, became known for his aggressive stances on American power and served for more than a year in the first Trump administration before being fired in 2019. He later published a book highly critical of President Trump.
“There is only one level of justice for all Americans,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday. Anyone who abuses their power and jeopardizes our national security will be held to account. No one is above the law. »
The indictment is significantly more detailed than previous cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Unlike cases filed by a hastily appointed federal prosecutor, Bolton’s indictment was signed by career prosecutors specializing in national security.
While the investigation into Bolton came to light in August, when the FBI searched his home in Maryland and his office in Washington, it was well underway when Mr. Trump took office in January.
Sharing classified secrets
The indictment suggests that Bolton was aware of the inappropriateness of sharing classified information with unauthorized individuals, citing a media interview in April in which he chastised Trump administration officials for using Signal to discuss sensitive military details.
Although this anecdote is, prosecutors say, intended to demonstrate that Bolton understood the protocol applicable to state secrets, Bolton’s legal team could also use it to argue the existence of a double standard in law enforcement, since the Justice Department has apparently not opened an investigation into the Signal case.
Authorities say Bolton took meticulous notes of his meetings and briefings as national security adviser, then used a personal email address and messaging platform to share classified information with his family members. After sending a document, Bolton wrote in a message to his loved ones: “We are not talking about it! ! ! » In response, one of his relatives wrote: “Shh! ”, according to prosecutors.
The two family members were not identified in court documents, but a person with knowledge of the matter, who requested anonymity to discuss nonpublic details, identified them as Bolton’s wife and daughter.
A representative for Bolton told the FBI in July 2021 that his email account had been hacked by agents believed to be linked to the Iranian government, but did not disclose that he had shared classified information through that account or that the hackers were now in possession of state secrets, according to the indictment.
The indictment also charges Bolton with keeping top secret intelligence at his home regarding a foreign adversary’s plans to attack U.S. forces overseas, covert actions by the U.S. government, or other information that authorities believe could endanger the country’s national security.
Bolton’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement that “the facts underlying this case were investigated and resolved years ago.”
He added that the charges stemmed from excerpts from Bolton’s personal journals, kept during his 45-year government career, and included unclassified information, shared only with his immediate family and known to the FBI as early as 2021.
“Like many public servants throughout history,” Mr. Lowell said, “Bolton kept journals; it is not a crime. »
He added that Bolton “did not unlawfully share or retain any information.”
Controversy surrounding a book
John Bolton suggested the criminal case resulted from an unsuccessful attempt by the Justice Department, after he left the government, to block the publication of his 2020 book The Room Where It Happenedwhich portrayed Mr. Trump as seriously misinformed on foreign policy.
The Trump administration claimed that Bolton’s manuscript contained classified information that could harm national security if disclosed. Bolton’s lawyers said he followed through on the book’s publication after a White House National Security Council official, with whom Bolton had worked for months, claimed the manuscript no longer contained classified information.
