John Bolton turns himself in after classified documents indictment
3 Min Read
The former National Security Advisor has appeared in court after being charged with mishandling classified material, denying the allegations and accusing Trump of political revenge.
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Former Trump administration national security advisor John Bolton arrives for his arraignment at the Greenbelt Federal Courthouse in Greenbelt, Md., Friday, Oct. 17, 2025 (AP)
Former National Security Advisor John Bolton surrendered to authorities and appeared in a Maryland federal court on Thursday after being indicted on charges of mishandling classified information, the latest in a string of prosecutions targeting figures long at odds with US President Donald Trump.
Bolton, who has become one of Trump’s most outspoken critics, turned himself in at the federal courthouse in Greenbelt on October 17. The Justice Department confirmed the indictment, which includes 18 counts alleging unauthorized disclosure of classified material to family members in 2018 and 2019.
According to the indictment, Bolton shared “diary-like” notes describing his activities as national security advisor that allegedly contained sensitive intelligence, including covert US operations and methods for collecting information about foreign adversaries. Prosecutors also claim that between 2019 and 2021, a hacker believed to be linked to Iran accessed Bolton’s personal email, gaining entry to classified government data stored there.
In a statement released after his court appearance, Bolton denied the allegations and accused Trump of “weaponizing the Justice Department” against his opponents.
“These charges are not just about his focus on me or my diary entries, but his intensive effort to intimidate his opponents,” Bolton said.
Wider context
Bolton maintained that his 2020 memoir, The Room Where It Happened, had been reviewed and cleared by experienced career officials before publication.
“In four years of the prior administration, after these reviews, no charges were ever filed,” he said. “Then came Trump 2, who embodies what Joseph Stalin’s head of secret police once said: ‘You show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime.’”
His attorney, Abbe Lowell, argued that the Justice Department had investigated and resolved the same issues years earlier.
“These charges stem from portions of Ambassador Bolton’s personal diaries over his 45-year career – records that are unclassified, shared only with his immediate family, and known to the FBI as far back as 2021,” Lowell stressed.
Federal agents searched Bolton’s Maryland home and Washington, D.C. office in August as part of the investigation.
Trump's similar indictment dropped
The indictment against Bolton echoes some of the accusations once leveled against Trump himself, including mishandling of classified documents. However, those federal cases were dropped after Trump’s return to the Oval Office following his 2024 election victory.
When asked about Bolton’s indictment during a press briefing on October 16, Trump said he had not been informed of the charges.
“You’re telling me that for the first time,” Trump told reporters. “But I think he’s, you know, a bad person. I think he’s a bad guy. Yeah — he’s a bad guy. It’s too bad, but that’s the way it goes.”
It is worth noting that Bolton becomes the third prominent Trump critic to face federal charges within the past month. His attorney, Abbe Lowell, called the charges politically motivated and insisted the records involved were unclassified personal diaries long known to the FBI.
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