Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton has been indicted for storing top secret documents in his home and sharing classified information with family members. Bolton’s hacked email account also gave unidentified hackers access to sensitive material.
The neoconservative figure John Bolton, who served as National Security Advisor during President Donald Trump’s first term and later became one of his sharpest critics, was indicted on Thursday for violations related to handling classified documents.
The indictment suggests that secret information was exposed when hackers – allegedly linked to the Iranian regime – broke into Bolton’s email account. A representative for Bolton informed the FBI in 2021 about the hack, according to prosecutors, but did not disclose that he had shared classified information via the account or that the hackers now had access to government secrets.
Bolton denied the charges in a defiant statement.
— Now, I have become the latest target in weaponizing the Justice Department to charge those he deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts.
The indictment alleges that Bolton, between 2018 and August of this year, shared more than 1,000 pages of diary-like notes containing top secret information with two family members – identified as his wife and daughter. The material included information from meetings with US government officials, intelligence documents, and conversations with foreign leaders.
After sending one document, Bolton wrote to his relatives: “None of which we talk about!!!” In response, one of the relatives wrote: “Shhhhh”, prosecutors state.
— There is one tier of justice for all Americans. Anyone who abuses a position of power and jeopardizes our national security will be held accountable. No one is above the law, commented Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Neoconservative war hawk
Bolton’s attorney Abbe Lowell said that the underlying facts were investigated and resolved several years ago, and that the charges concern parts of Bolton’s personal diaries from his 45-year career in government.
He suggests that the case is linked to the Department of Justice’s failed attempt to block the publication of his 2020 book, “The Room Where It Happened”, which portrayed Trump as deeply ignorant about foreign policy.
— These charges are not just about his focus on me or my diaries, but his intensive effort to intimidate his opponents, to ensure that he alone determines what is said about his conduct, Bolton claimed.
Bolton has, throughout his long career in Republican foreign policy circles, become known as a neoconservative war hawk with hardline views on American military power.
He was, among other things, a strong advocate for the Iraq War and has consistently argued for an aggressive foreign policy toward Iran and North Korea. Trump once called him a “crazy” warmonger who would have led the country into “World War Six”.
When President Trump was asked about the indictment of his former National Security Advisor, he responded that he was not aware of it.
— I didn’t know that. You’re telling me for the first time, but I think he’s, you know, a bad person. I think he’s a bad guy. Yeah, he’s a bad guy. Too bad. But that’s the way it goes, the president stated.
