John Bolton, who served as President Donald Trump’s national security adviser during the president’s first term, was indicted on Oct. 16 for allegedly sharing classified materials on a private email server.
The indictment focused on two unnamed individuals with whom Bolton allegedly shared sensitive information. Both of those individuals were related to Bolton, according to the indictment filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
During his time as national security adviser, Bolton allegedly sent them “diary-like entries” on a regular basis that “contained information classified up to a ‘TOP SECRET/SCI’ level.”
Bolton faces 18 counts related to retention and transmission of national defense information.
The documents involved contained intelligence, including foreign countries’ intelligence and information about covert action conducted by the U.S. government.
For example, the indictment offers the following description for one of the documents containing Top Secret information: “Reveals intelligence that a foreign adversary was planning a missile launch in the future; a covert action in a foreign country that is related to sensitive inter-governmental actions; sensitive sources and methods used to collect human intelligence.”
Another, which was allegedly retained by Bolton, was described in the following way: “Reveals sources and collection used to obtain statements of a foreign adversary; covert action conducted by the U.S. Government in a foreign country.”
As national security adviser, Bolton had a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) within his home that was approved for processing and storage of classified information. But “at no point,” the indictment reads, was he “authorized to store or transmit classified information on unclassified systems.”
Bolton allegedly used his personal non-governmental email accounts to email top secret information.
“At no point did Bolton have authorization to store or transmit the classified information that he sent to Individuals 1 and 2 via his personal electronic devices and accounts,” the indictment reads. “Nor did, at any time, Individuals 1 or 2 have authorization to know or store the classified information that Bolton gave to them.”
Bolton, who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush, became Trump’s national security adviser in 2018. Trump fired Bolton in 2019, and they have criticized each other in the intervening years.
“The materials taken from Amb. Bolton’s home are the ordinary records of a 40-year career serving this country,” Abbe Lowell, an attorney representing Bolton, previously told news outlets in a statement. “Any thorough review will show nothing inappropriate was stored or kept by Amb. Bolton.”
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
