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A federal grand jury has indicted Donald Trump’s former national security adviser turned prominent critic. john boltonThe President is facing another criminal trial Alleged political enemy.
The 18-count indictment alleges that Bolton illegally sent hundreds of pages of classified national defense information to members of his immediate family, including foreign intelligence information and details about U.S. government covert operations, among other documents labeled “top secret.”
The document says Bolton is accused of sending “diary-like entries” to people identified only as “Persons 1 and 2” — believed to be his wife and daughter — which he wrote from hand-written notes containing classified material.
The 26-page document also accuses Bolton of printing and storing sensitive material at his home, which is in Bethesda, Maryland, FBI raided in August,
According to the indictment, those emails were later hacked by a person working for the Iranian government.
According to the indictment, “A representative of Bolton informed the US Government about the hack in or around July 2021, but did not tell the US Government that the account contained national defense information, including classified information, which Bolton had held in the account since his time as National Security Advisor.”
The allegations appear to cover the period when Bolton was first gathering material for his book about his time in the Trump administration, and Bolton strongly rebuked the allegations against him in a sharp statement Thursday night.
No charges were filed against him after the material was approved for use in his 2020 bookThe Room Where It Happened: A White House MemoirBut Bolton wrote Thursday, “Then came Trump 2, who epitomizes what the head of Joseph Stalin’s secret police once said, ‘You show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime.’
“The underlying facts in this case were investigated and resolved years ago,” his attorney, Abbey Lovell, said in a statement Thursday.
The allegations stem from excerpts from his personal diaries, Lowell said, “records that are declassified, shared only with his immediate family, and known to the FBI only as of 2021.”
“Like many public officials throughout history, [Bolton] “Keeping diaries is not a crime,” he said, adding, “We are eager to prove once again that [Bolton] Did not share or store any information illegally.
- The 26-page indictment accuses Bolton of illegally emailing national defense information
- The 18-count indictment charges him with unlawful transmission and retention of those documents.
- If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison for each count.
- Bolton and his defense lawyer say the contents of his private diaries were cleared for use years ago
In August, agents also searched Bolton’s office in Washington, D.C., and reportedly seized records bearing classification markings, including documents referencing weapons of mass destruction and government communications, according to court documents.
After the raid, Lowell said the material was nothing more than “a general record of a 40-year career serving this country.”
Lowell said at the time that the documents containing classified information contained information about Bolton’s President George W. Contains material from his time working under the Bush administration, when Bolton served as US Ambassador to the United Nations, and was cleared for his personal use several years earlier.
indicts third case against one in several weeks Prominent Trump criticAfter the President publicly directed the Justice Department and Attorney General Pam Bondi Initiate politically motivated criminal prosecution against your enemies“We cannot delay,” Trump wrote last month.
Having previously left the Trump administration, from where the president claims Bolton was fired, the veteran diplomat publishedthe room where it happenedBolton wrote a scathing account of the first days of Trump’s presidency, where an “erratic” Trump emerged as an “astonishingly clueless leader.”
Will face Trump later A blockbuster federal indictment Bolton, his nemesis, is now accused of breaking the same law – for withholding dozens of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago compound after leaving the White House.
But unlike the indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, which were brought Trump’s former personal lawyer Lindsey HalliganThe case against Bolton is being handled by Maryland US Attorney Kelly Hayes, whom Trump tapped to lead the office in February.
The indictment was presented to the grand jury by career prosecutor Tom Sullivan, who also signed the document.
Bolton faces eight counts of disseminating national defense information and 10 counts of unlawfully possessing it.
If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison for each count, although it is unlikely a judge will issue the maximum penalty.
“There is a level of justice for all Americans,” Bondi said in a statement Thursday. “Anyone who abuses a position of power and endangers our national security will be held accountable. No one is above the law.”
“He’s a bad man,” Trump said in response to a question from the White House on Thursday, moments after the impeachment was filed. “that’s the way it goes.”