Espionage Act: Bolton indicted for passing along classified docs

Former National Security Adviser John Bolton was indicted Thursday on 18 felony counts under the Espionage Act for allegedly mishandling classified information.

Bolton pleaded not guilty on Friday morning to 18 federal charges of mishandling classified information. He appeared in court in Greenbelt, Maryland, one day after his indictment that accused him of sharing over 1,000 pages of national defense notes with two family members via personal email and a messaging app while serving as Trump’s national security adviser from 2018 to 2019. 

The case marks the third major federal prosecution in recent weeks involving a prominent critic of President Donald Trump, following indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Bolton, 76, was released on his own recognizance after surrendering his passport. The indictment includes eight counts of unauthorized transmission of national defense information and 10 counts of unlawful retention of that information. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, though actual sentencing would likely be far lower under federal guidelines.

Prosecutors allege that from April 2018 through August 2025, he stored classified documents and handwritten notes at his Montgomery County, Maryland, home, some of which were later used as material for his 2020 memoir The Room Where It Happened. That book drew sharp criticism from Trump and prompted a failed Justice Department lawsuit to block its release.

The FBI raided Bolton’s Washington, D.C., office and Maryland residence on Aug. 22. Investigators also discovered that Bolton’s personal email account had been compromised in a 2021 cyberattack attributed to Iranian hackers, potentially exposing the classified material he had sent. According to the indictment, he failed to disclose his use of that account for sensitive communications during the subsequent security review.

The indictment was presented to a Maryland grand jury by US Attorney Thomas Sullivan. Bolton’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, argued that the materials were part of Bolton’s personal notes and did not contain operational secrets. Bolton says the case as politically motivated, and that it is “retribution” by Trump.

At the White House, Trump dismissed questions about the indictment, referring to Bolton as “a bad guy” and recalling their 2019 dispute over military action against Iran. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the charges reflect that “no one is above the law,” while FBI Director Kash Patel explained that the allegations involve “the highest levels of classified misuse through personal channels.”