Former Trump adviser John Bolton pleads guilty to mishandling classified information
Mike Emanuel reports on former National Security Advisor John Bolton pleading guilty to unlawful retention of national defense information. Bolton expressed remorse for emailing over a thousand pages, including top-secret intel, to family members not authorized to receive it. Prosecutors are recommending a five-year prison sentence and a $2.25 million fine, as Bolton’s emails were reportedly hacked by foreign adversaries.
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President Donald Trump on Friday mocked former National Security Adviser John Bolton after his one-time aide admitted to mishandling a classified national defense document.
Bolton pleaded guilty hours earlier during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, to one count of unauthorized possession of a national defense document. His guilty plea was part of a plea agreement that will see prosecutors dismiss the remaining 17 counts at sentencing. The guilty plea prompted an immediate response from Trump, who has repeatedly clashed with Bolton over foreign policy and the former adviser’s highly critical memoir ever since their very public falling out in 2019.
“John Bolton, a very dumb, unbalanced, and unskilled former representative of the United States of America, just pleads guilty!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post late Friday. “He is a terrible person, a lunatic who only wanted to start trouble and wars, and who was a needless pusher of death and destruction wherever he went. Hopefully, he will be dealt with harshly!”
Bolton, 77, is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 28 and, under his plea agreement, faces a $2.25 million fine, up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, up to 100 hours of community service and he will lose his federal retirement pension. His defense attorneys have said that they hope Bolton will avoid jail time.
EX-TRUMP OFFICIAL JOHN BOLTON PLEADS GUILTY TO 1 OF 18 COUNTS IN CLASSIFIED DOCS INDICTMENT
According to prosecutors, Bolton unlawfully kept classified national defense information after leaving government service, including documents classified as top secret. Authorities alleged he kept more than 1,000 pages of notes detailing his day-to-day activities as national security adviser and shared portions of that material with two family members using a personal email account.
Federal prosecutors said the documents included highly sensitive intelligence involving covert action programs, human intelligence sources and methods, and foreign military threats.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the investigation demonstrated that Bolton knowingly mishandled classified information.
FBI agents carry boxes out of former national security adviser John Bolton’s house in Bethesda, Md., on Aug. 22, 2025. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo)
BOLTON CASE PACKED WITH ‘VERY DAMNING’ EVIDENCE AND NATIONAL SECURITY RISKS, LEGAL EXPERTS WARN
“This FBI’s investigation proved that John Bolton knowingly transmitted top secret information using personal online accounts and retained said documents in his house – all in direct violation of federal law,” Patel said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Despite an onslaught of false claims by the fake news stating this case was ‘retribution,’ this investigation was based on meticulous work from dedicated professionals at the FBI who followed the facts without fear or favor – and Bolton chose to admit his guilt and plead guilty.”
Bolton served as Trump’s national security adviser from April 2018 until September 2019. Trump has said he fired Bolton, while Bolton said that he resigned.
Former Trump administration National Security Advisor John Bolton arrives for his arraignment at the Greenbelt Federal Courthouse in Greenbelt, Md., on Oct. 17, 2025. (Rod Lamkey Jr./AP)
Their relationship deteriorated further following the publication of Bolton’s 2020 memoir, “The Room Where It Happened,” which offered a highly critical account of Trump’s presidency. The Trump administration sought unsuccessfully to block the book’s publication, arguing it contained classified information. Bolton never faced any charges stemming from allegations that his memoir contained classified information.
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Bolton’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, defended his client’s decision to plead guilty, saying it reflected accountability.
“He took responsibility for a mistake he made, thereby saving the government resources to pursue a case that could expose additional sensitive information,” Lowell said in a statement. “By contrast, President Trump thumbed his nose at the classified information laws, took actual classified documents to his Florida mansion, interfered with the investigation of that conduct, and has never accepted any accountability for his conduct. Ambassador Bolton, whose offense was only keeping a diary which contained classified information, kept a record to preserve history, but Donald Trump kept secrets to serve himself.”
