Ex-US National Security Adviser John Bolton has pleaded not guilty to federal charges related to his handling of classified information.
Bolton surrendered to authorities at the federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland, where he entered his plea on Friday.
He faces eight counts of transmitting national defense information and ten counts of unlawfully retaining it, each carrying a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison. A conviction on all counts could result in a life sentence.
His strained relationship with Trump has raised concerns that the charges may be politically motivated.
Bolton’s indictment is the third in a series of cases brought against high-profile critics of Trump since the president appointed one of his personal lawyers, Lindsey Halligan, as US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Since being sworn in as US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia on September 22, Lindsey Halligan, one of Trump’s personal lawyers, has filed criminal indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both of whom have a long-standing history of public conflict with Trump.
Comey oversaw the FBI’s investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, an inquiry that Trump often framed as a politically motivated smear.
Trump fired Comey in 2017, early in his presidency. Letitia James, meanwhile, led a high-profile civil fraud case that accused Trump and his organisation of inflating asset values to secure favourable financial terms.
That case resulted in a $364 million judgement against Trump in 2024, a penalty later overturned as “excessive”.
Trump against Bolton
Last month, Trump posted on social media, demanding prosecutions of political opponents, specifically naming James and Comey. “They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done,” Trump wrote, addressing Attorney General Pam Bondi.
He went on to say that he had fired the previous US attorney in Virginia for saying there was “no case,” adding, “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!) OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”
While Bolton was not named in that post, he has long been one of Trump’s harshest critics from within Republican ranks.
The two parted ways in 2019, though whether Bolton resigned or was fired remains disputed. Trump has publicly mocked Bolton’s foreign policy, once tweeting, “If I listened to him, we would be in World War Six by now.”
Bolton later detailed his experiences in a 2020 memoir, The Room Where It Happened, in which he accused Trump of basing decisions on personal gain and displaying a troubling lack of understanding about global affairs.
“He couldn’t tell the difference between his personal interests and the country’s interests,” Bolton wrote.
He also became a regular presence on news outlets, voicing criticism of Trump and his administration’s actions.
What are the allegations against Bolton?
According to the indictment, Bolton “abused his position as National Security Advisor by sharing more than a thousand pages of information about his day-to-day activities as National Security Advisor – including information relating to the national defense which was classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level – with two unauthorised individuals.”
It further alleges that Bolton “unlawfully retained documents, writings, and notes relating to national defense,” including diary-like entries that were handwritten, later typed, and electronically sent to two individuals—believed to be his wife and daughter.
The indictment also suggests Bolton may have been targeted by a hacker believed to be connected to the Iranian government, possibly compromising the classified materials he allegedly retained.
Critics have pointed out the apparent double standard, noting Trump himself had previously faced a federal classified documents case, which included the retrieval of 33 boxes and over 11,000 government records from his Mar-a-Lago estate.
That case was dropped shortly before Trump returned to office, in line with the Justice Department’s policy not to prosecute sitting presidents.
Bolton has firmly denied the charges and framed the indictment as a politically motivated attack orchestrated by Trump.
“I have become the latest target in weaponising the Justice Department to charge those he deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts,” he said in a public statement.
