John Bolton, former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, surrendered to authorities Friday, less than 24 hours after he was indicted on 18 counts related to mishandling classified information.
Bolton, 76, was seen leaving his home in Bethesda, Maryland, and then later arriving at the federal district courthouse in Greenbelt for his initial court appearance.
Bolton, a former adviser-turned-Trump critic, is the latest person to be indicted by the Justice Department, which the president has promised to use in a retribution campaign against his perceived enemies.
The former adviser has denied any wrongdoing and accused Trump of âweaponizingâ the DOJ to âcharge those he deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts.â
On Thursday, a grand jury in Maryland returned an 18-count indictment against Bolton on accusations that he unlawfully retained and shared national defense information using his personal email and a messaging app.
The indictment alleges Bolton shared more than 1,000 pages of âdiaryâ notes about his daily activities with family members while serving as Trumpâs national security adviser in 2018 and 2019.
Trump fired Bolton after repeatedly clashing with him over foreign policy issues.
Bolton has become an outspoken Trump critic, claiming his former boss was âunfitâ to be president and that he subscribes to âchaos as a way of life.â
When asked about Boltonâs charges Thursday, Trump referred to his former national security adviser as a âbad guy.â
Although Bolton is part of Trumpâs list of enemies, the probe into his handling of classified information began during the Biden administration after Bolton published his memoir The Room Where it Happened in 2020. However, the case was closed.
Boltonâs attorney, Abbe Lowell, insisted Bolton has not broken the law.
âThe underlying facts in this case were investigated and resolved years ago,” Lowell said in a statement.
While Bolton joins former FBI Director James Comey, also a perceived enemy from Trumpâs first administration, in being indicted, the charges against Bolton were brought differently.
Career prosecutors in Maryland investigated and charged Bolton with the 18-count indictment following normal procedure. But Trump had to fire and replace a prosecutor in Virginia who refused to bring charges against Comey, citing lack of evidence, in order to obtain charges against the former FBI director.
This is a developing story, more followsâŚ
