Former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton was indicted by a federal grand jury on Oct. 16 on charges that he unlawfully transmitted and retained classified documents. He is charged with ten counts for the unlawful retention of national defense information and another eight counts for the unlawful transmission of national defense information. In court on Oct. 17, he pleaded “not guilty” and surrendered his passport.
Bolton used a non-government personal email account and messaging application, according to prosecutors, to transmit at least eight documents to unauthorized individuals that contained information classified at levels ranging from Secret to Top Secret. They claim that all but one were sent while he served as Trump’s National Security Adviser in 2018 and 2019, while the other one was just days after President Donald Trump fired him.
Prosecutors say one document listed in the indictment “reveals intelligence about future attack by an adversarial group in another country.” Others allegedly contain information about foreign partners sharing sensitive information with the U.S. intelligence community; intelligence related to a foreign adversary’s missile launch plans; intelligence on leaders of a U.S. adversary; and one that detailed plans of covert action by the U.S. government.
