Former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton was indicted Thursday on charges of retaining and transmitting national defense information, becoming the third critic of Donald Trump recently charged by the Justice Department.
The investigation into Bolton, who served for more than a year in President Trump’s first administration before being fired in 2019, burst into public view in August when the FBI searched his home in Maryland and his office in Washington for classified records he may have held onto from his years in government. The existence of the indictment was confirmed to the AP by a person familiar with the matter who could not publicly discuss the charges and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
Bolton's lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. His lawyer had previously denied that Bolton engaged in wrongdoing. The indictment, according to court records, comes after court documents made public last month revealed that Bolton was under federal investigation for potential mishandling of classified information.
