Overview

• A Maryland grand jury returned the 18-count indictment on Thursday, alleging unlawful transmission and retention of classified information.
• Charging documents contend Bolton emailed highly classified files to two unauthorized people and stored them at his home; the recipients are not publicly identified.
• FBI agents searched his home and office in August and seized materials the Justice Department says concerned future attacks, foreign adversaries and foreign‑policy relationships.
• Attorney General Pam Bondi said no one is above the law, and FBI Director Kash Patel said the sharing occurred via personal online accounts.
• Bolton’s lawyer Abbe Lowell denied wrongdoing, calling the materials private notes previously reviewed and shared only with family, as this becomes the third recent DOJ case involving a prominent Trump critic.