Ex-national security adviser John Bolton indicted in classified documents case : NPR

John Bolton, who served as national security adviser during President Trump's first term before becoming an outspoken critic, was indicted Thursday on 18 charges related to the mishandling of classified documents.

Details from indictment Bolton was charged in Maryland District Court with eight counts of transmitting national defense information and 10 counts of unlawful possession of such information. Each of the accused faces up to 10 years in prison.

The Justice Department said in a statement that Bolton illegally shared classified information using personal email and messaging apps, including “U.S. intelligence about future attacks, foreign adversaries, and foreign policy relations.”

“There is one level of justice for all Americans,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “Anyone who abuses their position and jeopardizes our national security will be held accountable.”

The charges were filed approximately two months after The FBI executed a search warrant at a suburban Bolton home in Washington. Court documents say agents found documents marked as classified, including references to weapons of mass destruction.

Bolton served in the White House for just over a year in Trump's first term, but has since become a harsh critic of the president. He said he believed Trump would use the Justice Department to carry out a “presidency of retaliation.”

The investigation into Bolton began before Trump returned to office. Bolton's attorney, Abbey Lowell, said the charges in the case “were resolved many years ago.” He said the charges were based on documents related to Bolton's personal diaries and never contained classified information.

“Like many government officials throughout history, Ambassador Bolton kept diaries—it is not a crime. We look forward to proving once again that Ambassador Bolton did not disseminate or illegally possess any information,” Lowell said in a statement.

Bolton was one of the former administration officials whose security clearances Trump undressed when he returned to the office. Trump also revoked Bolton's security authority, which was put in place due to threats from Iran.

Bolton posted The room where it happened in 2020, a memoir about his time in the White House was published, which criticized Trump's approach to foreign policy and the presidency in general.

Trump administration filed a lawsuit to try to block publication of the book, claiming that Bolton had not undergone proper vetting procedures and that his manuscript contained classified information. The judge rejected the request but said Bolton's behavior raised national security issues. Biden Administration rejected the claimand the following year, prosecutors dropped the grand jury investigation.

The charges against Bolton follow two other recent charges, including former FBI Director James Comeyanother Trump critic, one count of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice in connection with his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee nearly five years ago.

And a grand jury indicted the New York attorney general. Letitia James Last week on one count of bank fraud and one count of making false statements to a financial institution. James, a Democrat, has vowed to investigate Trump and won a case against him and his company for inflating the value of some of its properties.

Trump publicly called on the Justice Department to prosecute James and Comey in a social media post last month; Bolton was not included in this post.

The accusations came after Northern Virginia's top federal prosecutor has questioned the evidence against Comey and James, but the president and replaced by one of Trump's former lawyers.