Journalism of Courage
Former US National Security Adviser John Bolton pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges accusing him of sharing classified government information with his family and keeping top-secret documents at his Maryland home.
Bolton appeared before a federal judge and was released after his plea. The case, brought by the Justice Department, is one of several recent prosecutions involving critics of President Donald Trump.
According to the indictment, Bolton is accused of emailing more than 1,000 pages of sensitive notes to his wife and daughter. The notes allegedly contained information from meetings with US and foreign officials and intelligence briefings. Prosecutors say some of the material was later exposed when hackers, believed to be linked to Iran, accessed Bolton’s personal email account.
The Justice Department also alleges that Bolton kept classified intelligence about a foreign adversary’s military plans and other covert US operations at his home.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement, “Anyone who abuses a position of power and jeopardises our national security will be held accountable. No one is above the law.”
Bolton, 76, has said the case is politically motivated and part of what he called Trump’s “effort to intimidate his opponents.” His lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said the material in question came from Bolton’s personal diaries and was already reviewed by investigators in 2021.
“Like many public officials throughout history, Bolton kept diaries that is not a crime,” Lowell said, adding that Bolton “did not unlawfully share or store any information.”
Bolton, who served in Trump’s first administration before being fired in 2019, had earlier faced government efforts to block publication of his 2020 memoir, The Room Where It Happened, which was sharply critical of Trump.
(With inputs from Associated Press)
