John Bolton, the former national security adviser to Donald Trump in his first term, pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges he shared diary-like notes that contained top secret information with relatives and stored classified documents at his home.
The justice department pursues Espionage Act cases in the event of so-called “aggregating factors”: willful mishandling of classified information, vast quantities of classified information to support an inference of misconduct, disloyalty to the US and obstruction.
The justice department also opened a criminal investigation into whether Bolton mishandled classified information by disclosing certain details in the book.
The Biden justice department initially dropped the lawsuit and grand jury investigation in 2021.
The briefing appeared to spur renewed interest in investigating Bolton, the people familiar with the matter said.
John Bolton, the former national security adviser to Donald Trump during his first term, entered a not guilty plea on Friday to allegations that he kept classified documents at home and shared diary-style notes containing top secret information with family members.
After turning himself in to authorities and making his first appearance before US magistrate judge Timothy Sullivan on the 18-count indictment against him, Bolton entered the courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland, without speaking to reporters.
Bolton previously referred to the case as the most recent attempt by Trump to single out his political rivals, while his attorney, Abbe Lowell, described it as an effort to punish his client for taking notes for a 2020 behind-the-scenes memoir called The Room Where It Happened that was critical of Trump and infuriated the presidential administration.
In a statement, Bolton claimed, “I have now become the latest target in weaponizing the justice department to charge those he deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined previously or distort the facts.”.
Nevertheless, the indictment, which was submitted by career prosecutors in the US attorney’s office in Maryland, detailed how Bolton sent notes about his daily activities via personal email accounts, despite the fact that he left his position as national security adviser on tense terms with Trump.
The indictment also described how a foreign state actor, allegedly Iran, obtained access to Bolton’s email accounts after he left government service, printed the notes, and stored them in his home along with other classified documents.
When there are “aggregating factors”—willful mishandling of classified information, large amounts of classified information to support an inference of misconduct, disloyalty to the United States, and obstruction—the Justice Department pursues Espionage Act cases.
Bolton kept thorough records of his daily meetings, activities, and briefings. During the course of his day at the White House complex or other secure locations, Bolton frequently handwrote these notes on yellow notepads. Later, he rewrote his notes in a word processing document, according to the indictment.
As a national security adviser, Bolton sent notes and documents containing top secret information to two unidentified individuals without security clearances, who are thought to be his wife and daughter, via a group chat, according to the indictment.
The former Trump administration filed a lawsuit to postpone the publication of Bolton’s book, claiming a classification review, just before it was released. In addition, the justice department launched a criminal investigation to determine whether Bolton’s book’s disclosures constituted improper handling of classified material.
The lawsuit and grand jury investigation were first dropped by the Biden justice department in 2021. People familiar with the situation say that after the US intelligence community discovered more about Bolton’s emails through a foreign spy agency, they reopened the investigation.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe and FBI Director Kash Patel met earlier this year to discuss Bolton’s emails and how they seemed to be transcriptions of classified material. The individuals with knowledge of the situation stated that the briefing seemed to rekindle interest in looking into Bolton.
