John Bolton Pleads Guilty To Mishandling Classified Information, Faces Up To Five Years In Prison
Former National Security Adviser John Bolton pleaded guilty Friday to a federal charge involving the mishandling of classified information during his time in the Trump White House, leaving the longtime foreign policy figure facing the possibility of prison time and millions of dollars in penalties.
Bolton entered his plea in federal court outside Washington, admitting guilt to a single count of unlawfully retaining national defense information. When asked by the judge whether he was guilty, Bolton replied, “I am, Your Honor, and sorry for it.”
Although the charge carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison, federal prosecutors are seeking a five-year sentence as part of the plea agreement. Prosecutors are also requesting that Bolton pay a $2.25 million fine.
Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 28.
According to prosecutors, Bolton improperly shared more than 1,000 pages of classified information in the form of personal diaries with two family members while preparing to write a memoir that came with a $1.5 million publishing advance.
The information was allegedly transmitted through personal email accounts belonging to Bolton and his relatives and stored digitally, while handwritten versions of the notes were also maintained from his time serving in the administration between April 2018 and September 2019.
Federal prosecutors further alleged that Bolton sent eight government documents through his private email account while holding a top-secret security clearance. Seven of those documents were later determined to contain information classified at the “top secret” level, the highest classification within the federal government.
Investigators recovered documents concerning weapons of mass destruction, internal government strategy discussions, classified travel information and material relating to the United States mission to the United Nations during searches of Bolton’s Maryland home and Washington office in 2025.
The case gained additional attention after prosecutors revealed that some of Bolton’s records became vulnerable following a cyberattack on his AOL account that was allegedly carried out by Iranian-linked hackers in 2021.
Authorities said Bolton informed investigators about the hack but failed to disclose that classified information may have been compromised as a result.
Bolton has faced persistent security threats from Iran since the 2020 killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani during President Trump’s first term.
The guilty plea brings an end to a years-long federal investigation that reportedly began during the final months of Trump’s first administration but saw little movement during the presidency of Joe Biden.
Bolton had previously faced scrutiny over classified information concerns surrounding the publication of his bestselling memoir, “The Room Where It Happened.” The Trump administration argued at the time that portions of the manuscript could jeopardize national security if published.
Bolton’s attorneys maintained that many of the documents seized by investigators had already undergone government review and that none of the information involved in the current case was ever published in his book.
Federal prosecutors confirmed Friday that none of the classified information at the center of the criminal case ultimately appeared in Bolton’s memoir.