Former Trump adviser John Bolton agrees to plead guilty to leaking classified information
This crime carries a penalty of up to 5 years in prison. But he expects to pay a fine of $2.25 million.
John Bolton. Photo: Mike Theiler — Pool/Getty Images
John Bolton, former National Security Adviser to Donald Trump, and later one of his strongest critics, has reached a plea deal in a case involving the unauthorized handling of classified documents. Two sources familiar with the situation told the BBC.
Last year, federal prosecutors charged Bolton with 18 counts related to the mishandling of classified information. Bolton initially pleaded not guilty.
According to both sources, who wished to remain anonymous, Bolton intends to plead guilty to one count of concealment of information relating to national defense.
He expects to pay a fine of $2.25 million.
Bolton is expected to make this statement during a court hearing on June 26.
A representative for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Maryland and the U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment. The agreement must be approved by a judge before it is finalized.
According to a source familiar with the terms of the agreement, it also provides for no jail time, but the sentencing decision will be made by a judge at a separate sentencing hearing.
This crime carries a penalty of up to 5 years in prison.
Last October, the Department of Justice charged Bolton with committing a public safety offense related to the mishandling of classified documents. Some of the documents were categorized as top secret or confidential information, to which John Bolton had access while serving as Trump's national security adviser from April 2018 to September 2019.
The indictment alleged that Bolton initially understood that state secrets were involved.
One of the former Trump adviser's entries began with the words "An intelligence official said," and another with "While in the Situation Room, I learned," the New York Times writes.
According to the indictment, some documents were "diary"-style entries and contained top-secret information about U.S. national defense. Bolton was accused of sharing some of these materials with two of his relatives while he was writing a book about his work for Trump.
According to New York Times sources, these were John Bolton's wife and daughter, to whom he showed his notes while working on his memoirs.
The only charge to which Bolton plans to plead guilty concerns documents similar to diary entries, BBC sources said.
The maximum prison term in such a case would be 5 years, but options are also possible in which Bolton would get off with a fine. If he had continued to insist on his innocence and lost in court, Bolton would have faced many years in prison.
Bolton is not the only Trump critic against whom a criminal case has been initiated. Previously, cases were brought against former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Bolton has been critical of Trump since leaving his first post in the presidential administration. After that, he wrote a book criticizing the president. Donald Trump himself then suggested jailing Bolton.
However, former federal prosecutors and other legal experts told the BBC that Bolton's case differs from those against other Trump critics due to the evidence gathered by prosecutors.
Prosecutors, in particular, accuse him of illegally transmitting top-secret U.S. national defense information using personal email and other messaging services.
"These documents disclose intelligence about future attacks, foreign adversaries, and foreign policy relationships," the Justice Department document states.
According to a BBC source, John Bolton also understood that if he continued to assert his innocence, "other classified information might be disclosed in his defense," and he did not want to "harm" the United States.
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