John Bolton, who served as national security adviser to President Donald Trump during his first term, just got more bad news.
Advertisement Under the reported plea agreement, Bolton would plead guilty to a single count related to the handling of classified material.
The report states that the agreement could expose him to a sentence of up to five years in prison and a $2 million fine.
Bolton, who became one of the president’s most outspoken critics after Trump fired him, has remained a controversial figure in national security and foreign policy circles for years
Advertisement According to a source cited in the report, the classified information was allegedly viewed only by members of Bolton’s immediate family, specifically his wife and daughter.
Federal prosecutors nonetheless pursued the case on the grounds that the material was retained outside authorized government channels.
Bolton’s legal troubles escalated significantly last October when a federal grand jury in Maryland returned an indictment charging him with eight counts of transmitting national defense information and 10 counts of retaining national defense information
Advertisement The charges followed a federal investigation that included FBI searches of Bolton’s residence in Bethesda, Maryland, and his Washington, D. C. , office on Aug.
22.
Federal agents reportedly seized materials as part of an inquiry into the handling and storage of sensitive government information.
Bolton served as Trump’s national security adviser from April 2018 until September 2019
According to court records, Bolton is scheduled to appear before a federal judge in Greenbelt, Md. , on June 26, where he is expected to formally enter his guilty plea under the terms of the reported agreement with prosecutors.
When he was first indicted, Bolton claimed innocence and complained that he was only being targeted for being a Trump critic.
The FBI raid on Bolton’s home was reportedly connected to an investigation into allegations that he sent classified documents to family members from a private email server while serving in the White House, according to the New York Post
The outlet cited a Trump administration official who said FBI Director Kash Patel authorized the operation.
The Post also reported that sealed search warrants reference a past controversy over Bolton’s memoir as part of an effort to establish a pattern of behavior. However, a senior U. S.
official told the paper the current probe is a “clean break” from the earlier book-related investigation.
Shortly after the raid began, Patel wrote on X that “no one is above the law… [FBI] agents on a mission.”
Then-FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino shared the post and wrote, “Public corruption will not be tolerated. ”
Trump revoked Bolton’s security clearance and Secret Service detail in January 2025.
Asked about the raid at the time, Trump said he was not briefed in advance and first learned of it from television coverage
He went on to express clear disdain for his former national security adviser.
“I’m not a fan of John Bolton. He’s a real lowlife,” Trump told reporters.
He went on to call Bolton “not a smart guy” and said “he could be very unpatriotic.”
The president also said Bolton was “a very quiet person except on television if he can say something bad about Trump. ”
Vice President JD Vance told “Meet the Press” later that “we’re in the very early stages of an ongoing investigation into John Bolton. ”
The VP also denied Bolton was being targeted for criticizing Trump
Fox News reported then that a source familiar with the situation surrounding the raid told the outlet that “Bolton really had some nerve to attack Trump over his handling of classified information,” but did not elaborate.
Bolton previously criticized Trump’s handling of classified documents following the FBI’s unprecedented 2022 raid on the former president at his Mar-a-Lago estate.