Former White House National Security Advisor John Bolton pleaded not guilty on October 17, 2025, to 18 federal counts related to mishandling classified materials. He surrendered to authorities in Maryland and appeared in court in Greenbelt. The case involves allegations of sending top-secret information to his wife and daughter via personal email and messaging apps.
John Bolton, who served as national security advisor under President Donald Trump from 2018 to 2019, was indicted by a grand jury on Thursday, October 16, 2025, on 18 counts violating the Espionage Act for improperly handling classified documents. The charges stem from Bolton allegedly sending "diary-like entries" containing "TOP SECRET/SCI" information to unauthorized recipients—identified as his wife and daughter—through personal non-governmental email accounts hosted by AOL and Google, as well as a commercial messaging application. According to the indictment, Bolton transcribed handwritten notes from his daily activities into word processing documents and transmitted them without authorization. Neither Bolton nor the recipients had permission to store or share the classified material.
On Friday morning, October 17, 2025, Bolton surrendered to federal authorities in Maryland and appeared for his arraignment at the Greenbelt Federal Courthouse before U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Sullivan. Sullivan explained the charges, which carry potential penalties of up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 fines per count. "I do your honor," Bolton responded when asked if he understood the charges and penalties. He pleaded not guilty to all counts.
U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang, an Obama appointee from 2014 based in Greenbelt, Maryland, has been assigned to oversee the case going forward. Chuang previously issued rulings against Trump administration actions, including a 2017 nationwide injunction blocking the revised travel ban, which he described as motivated by anti-Muslim sentiment, and a recent block on efforts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The FBI raided Bolton's Maryland home in August 2025, seizing documents, three computers, and two iPhones as part of the Justice Department investigation, which gained momentum under the Biden administration and continued after Trump's second term began in January 2025. Bolton was released without bail but must surrender his passport to his lawyer, remain in the continental United States, and seek court approval for international travel. His next court appearance is scheduled for November 21, 2025.
In a statement, Bolton called the case a political prosecution: "For four decades, I have devoted my life to America’s foreign policy and national security. I would never compromise those goals... 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." President Trump, when asked about the indictment, said he was unaware but added, "I think he’s a bad person. It’s too bad, but that’s the way it goes."
The investigation involves career prosecutors from the U.S. attorney's office, contrasting with recent indictments of other Trump critics like former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Bolton, who resigned in 2019 amid disputes with Trump (though Trump claims he fired him), later criticized the president in his 2020 book "The Room Where It Happened," from which classified information was removed following legal challenges.