Former national security adviser John Bolton has been indicted on 18 charges related to the mishandling of sensitive national defense information.
The indictment accuses Bolton of unlawfully transmitting classified documents to unauthorized individuals and retaining materials—some marked top secret—at his private residence.
Prosecutors assert that Bolton shared over one thousand pages of “diary-style” entries covering his governmental activities with relatives not cleared to receive classified information. They also contend he stored classified notes and files at his home and in other personal spaces.
In response, Bolton’s legal team rejected wrongdoing, insisting that the entries in question were unclassified, part of personal records, and known to investigative authorities prior to this case.
The charges mark one of the most significant cases involving the alleged mishandling of classified materials by a former senior U.S. official in recent years, and the legal battle ahead is expected to unfold over national security and constitutional arguments.