Ex-national safety adviser John Bolton indicted in labeled paperwork case : NPR

John Bolton, who served as nationwide safety adviser throughout President Trump’s first time period earlier than changing into a vocal critic, was indicted on Thursday on 18 prices associated to the mishandling of labeled paperwork.

Particulars from the indictment filed in Maryland’s district court docket cost Bolton with eight counts for the transmission of nationwide protection info and 10 counts of illegal retention of such info. Every rely faces a most of 10 years in jail.

In a press release, the Justice Division stated Bolton illegally transmitted labeled info utilizing a private e mail and messaging purposes, together with U.S. “intelligence about future assaults, international adversaries, and foreign-policy relations.”

“There may be one tier of justice for all Individuals,” Legal professional Normal Pamela Bondi stated in a press release. “Anybody who abuses a place of energy and jeopardizes our nationwide safety shall be held accountable.”

The costs come about two months after the FBI executed a search warrant at Bolton’s suburban Washington dwelling. Courtroom papers stated brokers recovered paperwork marked as labeled, together with references to weapons of mass destruction.

Bolton served in Trump’s first time period within the White Home for simply over a yr however has since turn into a pointy critic of the president. He has stated he believed Trump would use the Division of Justice to enact a “retribution presidency.”

The investigation in opposition to Bolton dates again to earlier than Trump’s return to workplace. Bolton’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, stated the fees within the case had been “resolved years in the past.” He stated the fees stem from paperwork tied to Bolton’s private diaries, and by no means included labeled info.

“Like many public officers all through historical past, Amb. Bolton saved diaries — that’s not a criminal offense. We sit up for proving as soon as once more that Amb. Bolton didn’t unlawfully share or retailer any info,” Lowell stated in a press release.

Bolton was one of many former administration officers whose safety clearances Trump stripped when he returned to workplace. Trump additionally revoked Bolton’s safety element, which was in place due to threats from Iran.

Bolton printed The Room The place It Occurred in 2020, a memoir about his time within the White Home that was vital of Trump’s strategy to international coverage and the presidency basically.

The Trump administration sued to attempt to block the e-book’s publication, alleging that Bolton hadn’t gone by the right clearance course of and that his manuscript contained labeled info. A decide declined that request, however stated Bolton’s conduct raised nationwide safety considerations. The Biden administration dismissed the lawsuit, and prosecutors dropped a grand jury investigation the next yr.

The costs in opposition to Bolton observe two different latest indictments, together with in opposition to former FBI Director James Comey, one other Trump critic, on one rely of creating false statements and one rely of obstruction of justice in connection together with his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee practically 5 years in the past.

And a grand jury indicted New York Legal professional Normal Letitia James final week on one rely of financial institution fraud and one rely of creating a false assertion to a monetary establishment. James, a Democrat, pledged to research Trump and received a case in opposition to him and his firm for inflating the worth of a few of its properties.

Trump had publicly referred to as on the Justice Division to prosecute James and Comey in a social media publish final month; Bolton wasn’t included in that publish.

The indictments got here after the highest federal prosecutor in Northern Virginia forged doubt on the proof in opposition to each Comey and James, solely to be pressured out by the president and changed with considered one of Trump’s former protection attorneys.