John Bolton, former National Security Adviser to Donald Trump, has been indicted — becoming the third critic of the US president to face criminal charges in recent weeks.
The 76-year-old veteran diplomat was charged by a federal grand jury in Maryland with 18 counts of transmitting and retaining classified information.
Asked about the indictment, Trump told reporters that Bolton was a “bad guy” and added, “that’s the way it goes.”
According to the 26-page indictment, Bolton allegedly shared top-secret documents by email with two “unauthorised individuals,” believed to be his wife and daughter. The US Justice Department said the documents contained intelligence about “future attacks, foreign adversaries, and foreign-policy relations.”
Each of the 18 counts carries a maximum penalty of ten years’ imprisonment.
Bolton’s indictment follows recent criminal charges brought by the Trump administration against two other prominent critics — New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey.
James, 66, was indicted in Virginia on 9 October on charges of bank fraud and making false statements related to a 2020 property purchase in Norfolk. She dismissed the allegations as “baseless” and “political retribution,” noting her previous successful prosecution of Trump for financial fraud.
Comey, 64, pleaded not guilty on 8 October to charges of making false statements to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding. His lawyer said he would move to have the case dismissed as a “vindictive and selective prosecution.”
Trump has publicly urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue legal action against James, Comey, and other perceived enemies, escalating his campaign against political opponents. Although he did not name Bolton in his social media post, Trump has frequently criticised his former adviser and revoked his security detail shortly after taking office in January.
A longstanding critic of Iran’s regime, Bolton, a known national security hawk, has received death threats from Tehran. FBI agents reportedly raided his Maryland home and Washington office in August as part of the investigation.
Bolton served as Trump’s National Security Adviser during his first term but later angered the administration by publishing a critical memoir, The Room Where It Happened. Since then, he has become one of Trump’s most vocal detractors, often describing him as “unfit to be president.”
Since returning to office in January, Trump has taken punitive action against perceived adversaries — removing officials he deems disloyal, targeting law firms linked to previous cases against him, and cutting federal funding to certain universities.
After Trump left the White House in 2021, Letitia James filed a civil fraud case against him, accusing him and his company of inflating asset values to secure favourable loans and insurance terms. A New York judge initially ordered Trump to pay $464 million, but a higher court later suspended the financial penalty while upholding the ruling.
The latest cases against James and Comey were filed by Trump’s appointed US attorney, Lindsey Halligan, after her predecessor resigned, citing insufficient evidence to prosecute.
Comey, appointed FBI Director by Barack Obama in 2013, was dismissed by Trump in 2017 during the investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump himself had previously faced accusations of mishandling classified documents and attempting to overturn the 2020 election results. However, both cases were dropped after his 2024 election victory, as the Justice Department reaffirmed its policy of not prosecuting a sitting president.