Trump ex-advisor John Bolton to face charges over classified files: reports
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The news: The US Justice Department is expected to ask a grand jury on Thursday local time to indict former national security adviser John Bolton under the Espionage Act, financial media reported citing unnamed sources.
The planned charges reportedly relate to Bolton’s alleged mishandling of classified information, following an FBI search of his Maryland home and Washington office in August.
Agents recovered documents marked “confidential” that referenced weapons of mass destruction, as well as folders labelled “Trump I-IV” and a binder titled “statements and reflections to Allied Strikes”, according to court records.
If indicted, Bolton is expected to surrender and appear in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, on Friday local time.
The context: Bolton would be the third prominent Trump critic to face indictment in recent weeks, following former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
He emerged as a vocal opponent of Trump after serving in his administration, and in 2020 published a memoir describing Trump as unfit for office. Trump unsuccessfully attempted to block the book’s release, arguing it endangered national security.
But the case against Bolton differs from the others, which were brought by a Trump-appointed interim US attorney in Virginia. Bolton’s case was first opened during the Biden administration, then dropped, and has now been revived under the leadership of Maryland-based career prosecutor Thomas Sullivan.
Bolton has denied mishandling classified information.
