Former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton Indicted on 18 Counts Over Classified Material
In a major legal development, former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton was indicted today, October 16, 2025, by a federal grand jury in Maryland on 18 counts alleging the improper handling, retention, and transmission of classified national defense information. The charges mark a dramatic escalation in scrutiny of Bolton's post-administration conduct and raise serious legal, political, and national security questions. According to the indictment, Bolton is charged with eight counts of unlawful transmission of national defense information and ten counts of unlawful retention under the Espionage Act . Prosecutors allege that Bolton shared over 1,000 pages of “diary-like” notes from his tenure in the Trump administration with two individuals—identified only as “Individual 1” and “Individual 2”—through personal email and messaging accounts. Much of the material in question is said to detail sensitive government operations and foreign intelligence matt...