The former national security advisor to President Donald Trump, John Bolton, has pleaded guilty to a felony count of unlawfully retaining national defense information.
The plea was made in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, before U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang. Bolton, 77, had faced an 18-count indictment that accused him of transmitting and retaining highly sensitive, classified materials during and after his time in the Trump administration.
Bolton served as national security advisor from April 2018 until September 2019. Prosecutors alleged that while in that role, he created extensive “diary-like entries” and notes detailing his daily activities, meetings with foreign leaders, intelligence briefings, and sensitive policy discussions.
Prosecutors claimed that Bolton transmitted more than 1,000 pages of this material, some classified up to the Top Secret/SCI level, via his personal AOL email account and messaging applications to two unauthorized individuals. The documents allegedly included intelligence on foreign adversaries, sources and methods, and other sensitive matters related to weapons of mass destruction and U.S. strategy.
The case gained momentum after Bolton’s personal AOL email account was hacked in July 2021 by actors linked to Iran. The breach exposed the diary-style notes he had sent to family members. Federal investigators later determined that the compromised emails contained classified national defense information.
As part of the investigation, FBI agents executed search warrants at Bolton’s Bethesda home and his D.C. office. Agents seized classified documents, electronic devices, folders labeled “Trump I–IV,” and a binder titled “Statements and Reflections to Allied Strikes.”
Bolton agreed to pay a fine of more than $2 million as part of the plea agreement. He now faces up to 10 years in prison on the single count of unlawful retention of national defense information, though the actual sentence will be determined by the judge after considering sentencing guidelines and other factors.
Bolton’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, issued a statement after the plea, criticizing President Trump for his handling of classified information. Lowell noted that Bolton took responsibility for a mistake he made, thereby saving the government resources to pursue a case that could expose additional sensitive information.
The sentencing is scheduled for October, and Bolton will face the consequences of his actions, as he has pleaded guilty to a felony count of unlawfully retaining national defense information.
