Former Trump advisor John Bolton was accused of handling classified information

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton was indicted Thursday in a federal investigation into possible mishandling of classified information, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

The investigation into Bolton, who served for more than a year in President Donald Trump’s first administration before being fired in 2019, came to light in August when the FBI searched his home in Maryland and his office in Washington for secret records he may have kept from his years in government.

He watches: The FBI raids the home of John Bolton, a former Trump adviser turned outspoken critic

The existence of the indictment was confirmed to The Associated Press by a person familiar with the matter who could not discuss the charges publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

During the August search, agents seized several documents labeled “confidential,” “confidential” and “secret” from Bolton’s office, according to previously unsealed court filings. The documents stated that some of the seized records appeared to relate to weapons of mass destruction, national “strategic communications” and the US mission to the United Nations.

The indictment sets the stage for a closely watched court case centering on a long-time fixture in Republican foreign policy circles who became known for his hawkish views on American power and who emerged after leaving Trump’s first administration as a prominent and outspoken critic of the president. Although the investigation that produced the indictment began before Trump’s second term, the case will unfold against the backdrop of broader concerns that the Justice Department will be used as a weapon to go after his political opponents.

This comes after separate indictments over the past month accusing former FBI Director James Comey of lying to Congress and New York Attorney General Letitia James of committing bank fraud and making a false statement, charges they both deny. Both cases were brought in federal court in Virginia by a prosecutor who Trump hastily appointed to the position after growing frustration that investigations into high-profile enemies did not result in prosecution.

By contrast, the Bolton case was brought in Maryland by a U.S. attorney who, before his promotion to office, had been a career prosecutor in the office.

Questions about Bolton’s handling of classified information go back years. He faced a lawsuit and a Justice Department investigation after leaving office in connection with information contained in a 2020 book he published titled “The Room Where It Happened,” which portrayed Trump as completely ignorant of foreign policy.

The Trump administration confirmed that Bolton’s manuscript contained classified information that could harm national security if disclosed. Bolton’s lawyers said he moved forward with the book after a White House National Security Council official, with whom Bolton worked for several months, said the manuscript no longer contained classified information.

A previously unsealed search warrant affidavit said a National Security Council official reviewed the book’s manuscript and told Bolton in 2020 that it appeared to contain “significant amounts” of classified information, some of it at a top-secret level.

Bolton’s attorney, Abby Lowell, said many of the documents seized in August were approved as part of a pre-publication review of Bolton’s book. Many of them are decades old, he said, from Bolton’s long career at the State Department, as an assistant attorney general and as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

The indictment marks a dramatic moment in Bolton’s long career in government. He served in the Justice Department during the administration of President Ronald Reagan and was the State Department’s point man on arms control during the presidency of George W. Bush. Bush nominated Bolton to serve as US ambassador to the United Nations, but the strong supporter of the Iraq war was unable to obtain Senate approval and resigned after spending 17 months in the position as Bush was on recess. This allowed him to retain the position on a temporary basis without Senate approval.

In 2018, Bolton was appointed to serve as Trump’s third national security adviser. But his short term was marked by disagreements with the president over North Korea, Iran and Ukraine.

These disagreements eventually led to Bolton’s departure, with Trump announcing on social media in September 2019 that he had accepted Bolton’s resignation. Bolton later criticized Trump’s approach to foreign policy and government in his 2020 book, including by claiming that Trump directly linked the provision of military aid to the country’s willingness to conduct investigations into Joe Biden, Trump’s soon-to-be Democratic rival in the 2020 election, and members of his family.

Trump responded by criticizing Bolton as a “washed-up man” and a “crazy warmonger” who would lead the country into “World War VI.” Trump also said at the time that the book contained “highly classified information” and that Bolton “did not receive approval” to publish it.

Tucker and Durkin Richer reported from Washington.