Grand jury indicts former national security advisor John Bolton on 18 felony charges

A grand jury delivered an 18-count indictment on Thursday against former national security advisor and Trump critic John Bolton, who has been accused of unlawfully handling classified documents.

The grand jury indictment charged Bolton with 18 felonies, including 10 counts of illegal retention of national defense information. He was also charged with eight counts of transmitting national defense information.

“There is one tier of justice for all Americans,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “Anyone who abuses a position of power and jeopardizes our national security will be held accountable. No one is above the law.”

The federal grand jury convened Wednesday to consider charges against the longtime national security figure two months after the FBI raided his Maryland home and found “highly sensitive national security” information. 

The search warrant for Bolton’s home, dated Aug. 22, showed there were "travel memo documents with pages labeled secret," as well as "confidential" documents regarding "U.S. Mission to the United Nations," "U.S. Government Strategic Communications Plan," and weapons of mass destruction. 

Laptops and other electronics were also seized in the search, Just the News previously reported. 

The FBI also searched Bolton’s Washington, D.C. office. 

The Justice Department has also accused Bolton of using a private email account to send classified information and record notes of his daily activities and assessments during his time as President Trump’s first-term national security advisor. 

Bolton was one of several national security advisors for Trump, but was eventually fired and became a critic of the current president.

The Justice Department sued Bolton in 2020 over his memoir, "The Room Where it Happened," alleging he breached his contract by failing to conduct a pre-publication check for classified information. Eventually, the department opened a criminal investigation into whether Bolton had disclosed such information in the memoir.

The Biden Justice Department closed that investigation in 2021. "This is a complete vindication," Bolton told Axios. "They're just giving up."

The federal judge allowed Bolton to move forward with publishing the book, but ruled that he "likely published classified materials" and "exposed his country to harm and himself to civil (and potentially criminal) liability." 

If convicted, Bolton faces a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison for each charge.