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John Bolton Indicted in Maryland on 18 Counts Over Classified Material

Prosecutors cite August searches plus intelligence about a hacked AOL account as evidence he kept classified records outside secure channels.

Overview

  • In a 26-page filing, prosecutors charged Bolton with eight counts of transmitting national defense information and ten counts of retaining it.
  • The case was filed in Greenbelt and assigned to U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang, according to federal court records.
  • FBI agents searched his Maryland home and Washington, D.C., office on Aug. 22, seizing phones, computers, folders labeled 'Trump I–IV,' and documents marked secret or confidential, including references to weapons of mass destruction and U.S. strategic communications.
  • Redacted court filings reference a 'Hack of Bolton AOL Account by Foreign Entity,' which investigators used to help establish probable cause for the searches.
  • Bolton and attorney Abbe Lowell deny wrongdoing; he becomes the third prominent Trump critic charged in recent weeks as the case moves forward under classified-evidence procedures with significant potential prison time per count.