John Bolton Reaches Preliminary Agreement with U.S. Justice Department in Classified Information Case.
Reports indicate that John Bolton, former U.S. National Security Advisor, has reached a preliminary agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice in a case involving the unlawful retention of classified information. According to Reuters, Bolton could face a fine exceeding $2 million and a potential prison sentence of up to five years.
Court documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland show that Bolton is scheduled to appear before the court again on June 26. Such hearings are typically regarded as a sign that a plea agreement between the defendant and federal prosecutors is nearing finalization.
Under the terms of the proposed agreement, which remains subject to judicial approval, Bolton is expected to plead guilty to one count of unlawfully retaining classified information and to pay a substantial financial penalty. CNN, citing a source familiar with the matter, also reported that he has agreed to a significant monetary settlement.
According to available reports, Bolton may ultimately avoid incarceration or face a sentence of up to five years in prison. Had the case proceeded to a full trial and resulted in convictions on all charges, he could have been subjected to considerably harsher penalties.
The U.S. Department of Justice has not yet issued an official statement regarding the case.
Federal prosecutors alleged several months ago that Bolton improperly retained personal diaries and records from his tenure in the first administration of Donald Trump and shared more than 1,000 pages of information concerning his official activities via a personal email account with two individuals who lacked security clearances.
According to CNN, those individuals were Bolton’s wife and daughter. Nevertheless, he is not expected to plead guilty to charges involving the transmission of classified information. The current agreement pertains solely to the retention of national security information contained in his personal notes and records.
Bolton, who served as National Security Advisor from 2018 to 2019 during President Donald Trump’s first term, initially faced 18 criminal counts, including eight counts related to the transmission of national defense information and ten counts concerning its unlawful retention.
The investigation reportedly began after Bolton’s email account was compromised in a cyberattack attributed to hackers linked to Iran. During the ensuing inquiry, investigators uncovered notes containing highly classified information dating back to his service on the U.S. National Security Council.
Court filings further reveal that FBI agents discovered documents bearing classified markings during a search of Bolton’s residence in Maryland.
In recent years, Trump repeatedly criticized Bolton over the publication of his 2020 memoir, alleging that the book contained classified information. Following his departure from the administration, Bolton emerged as a prominent critic of Trump and wrote in his memoir that he considered him unfit for the presidency.
Writer:Salima Aryaei
