‘I Have Become The Latest Target’: John Bolton Just Got Hit With 18 Federal Counts, And His Response To Trump Is Absolutely Scathing

Former national security adviser John Bolton was charged by a federal grand jury on Thursday. He now faces 18 counts related to handling national security information. The charges include eight counts of sending out classified information and 10 counts of keeping it. Bolton worked as national security adviser during President Trump’s first term before he became one of his biggest critics.

Prosecutors say that Bolton misused his position between April 2018 and August of this year. They claim he shared over a thousand pages of information about his daily work with two relatives who did not have security clearances. The Associated Press reported that these relatives were his wife and daughter. The information was sent through diary-like entries using personal messaging apps and email accounts that were not government-approved.

In a statement released Thursday, Bolton fired back at the charges, as per The Hill. Bolton said he has “become the latest target in weaponizing the Justice Department to charge those [Trump] deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts.” The statement directly blamed the Trump administration for going after him for political reasons.

Bolton’s Not Going Down Without A Fight

The investigation into Bolton started when Biden was president, but it picked up speed after Trump came back to office in January. In August, federal agents searched Bolton’s home and office. According to court documents that were later made public, investigators thought Bolton was keeping national defense information that he should not have had. This information was connected to his book, The Room Where It Happened.

Bolton talked about the problems surrounding his book in his statement. He said the book, which came out in 2020, was checked and approved by the right career clearance officials. He also brought up the Trump administration’s earlier efforts to block the book from being published.

The charges also mention that in July 2021, someone representing Bolton told the FBI that one of his personal accounts had been hacked by Iran. But the representative did not say that Bolton had shared classified information through the account or that hackers had gotten hold of government secrets. Bolton said Thursday that the FBI was “made fully aware” of the hack. He pointed out that “in four years of the prior administration, after these reviews, no charges were ever filed.”

Bolton is not the only Trump critic facing legal trouble recently. New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey have also been charged in recent weeks in federal court in Virginia. If found guilty, Bolton could spend up to 10 years in prison for each of the 18 counts.

Bolton wrapped up his statement by saying, “These charges are not just about [Trump’s] focus on me or my diaries, but his intensive effort to intimidate his opponents, to ensure that he alone determines what is said about his conduct.” He added that “dissent and disagreement are foundational to America’s constitutional system, and vitally important to our freedom.” Bolton ended by saying, “I look forward to the fight to defend my lawful conduct and to expose his abuse of power.”