Former Trump adviser John Bolton is set to plead guilty in the secret documents scandal. He will take a plea deal with federal prosecutors.
John Bolton, the former national security adviser in the administration of Donald Trump, is about to plead guilty in the case of unauthorized possession of classified documents. As CNN reported, citing three sources, he will enter into a plea deal with federal prosecutors.
- John Bolton plans to plead guilty to unauthorized possession of classified documents.
- He will enter into a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.
- He will take responsibility for one criminal offense regarding sensitive security materials.
- He will pay a fine exceeding two million US dollars.
- Bolton became an outspoken critic of Donald Trump after leaving office.
According to one of these sources, Bolton is expected to accept responsibility for one felony count related to the illegal retention of sensitive materials related to US national security. The same source said that Bolton also agreed to pay a monetary penalty exceeding two million dollars. The given criminal offense is punishable by imprisonment for up to five years.
Agreement with the prosecutor’s office
The planned confession comes months after prosecutors in Maryland accused Bolton of keeping diaries from his time in the White House during Donald Trump’s first term. He was supposed to have stored these materials in his private house.
Investigators also claim that Bolton sent more than a thousand pages of information about his daily activities from his personal email account to two people who were not authorized to access such data. According to CNN, it was his wife and daughter. However, this alleged transfer of classified information is not part of the charges to which Bolton plans to plead guilty.
Dispute with Trump
Bolton served as national security adviser from 2018 to 2019, during the first Trump administration. During that period, according to CNN, he was at odds with the president on key foreign policy issues, particularly over his approach to Iran, Afghanistan and North Korea.
After leaving the White House, he became one of Trump’s most vocal critics. He regularly appears in television debates, where he comments on the foreign policy decisions of the former president as well as broader issues of national security. The Trump administration has tried unsuccessfully in the past to block the publication of Bolton’s book, arguing that the publication contains classified information.
