John Bolton, former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of retaining national security information related to his work during the first Trump administration.
Bolton appeared Friday morning for a re-arraignment in Greenbelt, Maryland before Obama-appointed judge Theodore D. Chuang. He faces a prison sentence of up to 60 months and has agreed to pay $2.25 million, according to prosecutors. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 28.
Bolton was originally charged in October of 2025 with eight counts of transmission of national defense information and ten counts of retention of national defense information. The charges centered on diary-like entries from his time in the Trump White House that were allegedly kept at his residence.
Prosecutors accused him of sharing more than 1,000 pages of information through his personal email with two unauthorized individuals – reportedly his wife and daughter – though these transmission allegations are not part of the plea deal.
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According to the indictment, Bolton used personal email and messaging accounts to transmit Top Secret intelligence about foreign adversaries, future attacks, and U.S. foreign-policy relations. He also kept classified files at his home, including sensitive intelligence about foreign leaders and U.S. intelligence sources.
Bolton described the national security information as an ‘electronic diary’ that he shared with two members of his family.
His lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said last year that Bolton was innocent.
“The underlying facts in this case were investigated and resolved years ago,” he said. “These charges stem from portions of Amb. Bolton’s personal diaries over his 45-year career – records that are unclassified, shared only with his immediate family, and known to the FBI as far back as 2021.”
