John Bolton indicted; ex-national security advisor is latest Trump foe to face criminal charges

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CNBC

Published Thu, Oct 16 2025 12:17 PM EDT Updated 5 Min Ago


John Bolton, a former national advisor to President Donald Trump, was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury in Maryland. Bolton is charged with eight counts of transmission of national defense information and 10 counts of retention of national defense information. He served as Trump’s national security advisor from April 2018 through September 2019. Bolton is the third high-profile Trump foe to be criminally charged in recent weeks after being criticized by the president.

The 26-page indictment says that Bolton, both during and after his tenure as Trump’s national security advisor, “abused his position ... by sharing more than a thousand pages of his day-to-day activities as the National Security Advisor — including information relating to the national defense which was classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level-with two unauthorized individuals, namely Individuals 1 and 2.”

Those people, who were unidentified in the indictment, are relatives of Bolton and did not have security clearance to receive the information, the indictment says.

“Bolton also unlawfully retained documents, writings, and notes relating to the national defense, including information classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level, in his home in Montgomery County, Maryland,” the indictment said.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/16/trump-john-bolton-grand-jury-indictment.html

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Link to INDICTMENT (PDF) - https://d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2025/10/bolton-indictment.pdf

REFERENCE - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143548654 (CBS hadn't updated their article yet at post time)

Article updated.

Original article/headline -

John Bolton indicted by grand jury, latest Trump foe to face criminal charges

Published Thu, Oct 16 2025 12:17 PM EDT Updated 4 Min Ago


John Bolton, a former national advisor to President Donald Trump, was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury in Maryland.

Bolton is the third high-profile Trump foe to be criminally charged in recent weeks after being criticized by the president.

Grand juries in Virginia separately indicted former FBI Director James Comey on charges related to allegedly lying to Congress, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is accused of bank fraud related to a mortgage on a home she owns in Virginia. They have denied any wrongdoing in those cases.

FBI agents on Aug. 22 raided Bolton's Maryland home and office in Washington, D.C.

[nitpicked]

1. Link to AP

https://apnews.com/article/john-bolton-indictment-classified-information-1e21da0591d1195fbf58c0df28d57c9f

GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton was charged Thursday in a federal investigation into the potential 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, burst into public view in August when the FBI searched his home in Maryland and his office in Washington for classified records he may have held onto from his years in government.
(snip)

[LudwigPastorius]

2. Since the DOD is now the Department of War,...

can we call Justice the Department of Retaliation?

[viva la]

3. These grand juries are worthless.

Remember the three grand juries that refused to indict FBI man Andrew McCabe, one of the earlier Trump targets?

Now that was one that did its job.

Does the judge have any power to say, "Nah, you got it wrong."

[SSJVegeta]

4. They aren't. In fact it is very likely DOJ is withholding evidence to influence towards an indictment.

Theres no way that information doesn't come out in discovery and burns dizzy prosecutor pushing them through.

[Fiendish Thingy]

6. Yeah, Discovery will likely put an end to these charges. Nt

[SSJVegeta]

7. Unless they actualy fabricate evidence which i dont think they are past doing.

Even then I can see that strategy turning sideways fast (for obvious reasons)

[Traildogbob]

5. Mishandling Classified docs

Fuck you trump and SC.

[ancianita]

14. Which could have been planted. Yes, they could have and would have.

[Bayard]

8. Irony, thy name is trump

Only 18 counts? Doesn't beat trump's record.

[Swallowtail]

9. Irony, thy name is trump.

[Jacson6]

10. Bolton makes my skin crawl.

I hope he doesn't take the witness stand. The jury will instantly hate the guy.

[Princess Turandot]

11. "Individuals 1 and 2"...

According to Individuals 1 and 2, they were shown "information relating to the national defense which was classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level-with two unauthorized individuals, namely Individuals 1 and 2.

How would these unidentified individuals, who I assume were used to secure a search warrant, know that the info was "TOP SECRET/SCI?" When did they realize this and become consumed with a need to tell someone?

#witnesscastingcalls

[ancianita]

15. Pretty suspect, imo, given the loyalist culture of this administration.

[maxrandb]

12. This is like Hitler fighting Musolini

I don't really care who wins...I'm just rooting for lots of injuries.

Bring on the popcorn 🍿

[JI7]

13. Bolton might have shit views on some issues but this is bs

and just about Trump wanting revenge.

[Septua]

17. Yeah...

Bolton is a patriot. I'm having a hard time believing he would knowingly jeopardize national security or be so ignorant as to not know he was doing it.

And anyone who says Trump is too stupid to be a fascist can't be all bad.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/john-bolton-says-trump-isnt-a-fascist-but-its-all-part-of-a-snarky-insult/ar-AA1sMu1x

“I think it’s a mistake to get into a controversy over whether Trump meets the definition of fascist or not,” he told the news network’s Kaitlan Collins. “I think his behavior alone is troubling enough. To be a fascist, you have to have a philosophy. Trump’s not capable of that. You know, Adolf Hitler wrote a profoundly troubling book called ‘Mein Kampf’ – ‘My Struggle.’ Donald Trump couldn’t even read his way all the way through that book, let alone write something like it.”

[Skittles]

19. like with Comey, it's another quandary

on the one hand it is pure FAFO

on the other hand, Trump weaponizing American institutions is very disturbing indeed

[bmichaelh]

16. Malicious Prosecution

I am disappointed that no one yet has countersued Trump for malicious prosecution.

Or they waiting to bring this up at pretrial hearings.

[Jack Valentino]

18. LAUGHABLE--- since Trump was being prosecuted for possessing BOXES & BOXES of classified documents---

which he refused to surrender when asked--- resulting in the big Maralago search raid...




THIS hypocrisy goes 'beyond the pale'....

[BlueSpot]

20. Maybe he should have spoken up when it could have counted instead of waiting for his book to come out

I don't have a clue what his royalties were but I have to wonder how they'll measure up against his lawyer fees. FAFO.

[joshdawg]

21. Anything to deflect from Epstein files.

Frivolous indictment, but then, trump is frivolous himself.