Overview
- Acting U.S. Attorney Kelly Hayes and her team in Maryland met this weekend to finalize a charging approach, with a choice between a fast criminal complaint or a grand-jury indictment reported by multiple outlets.
- FBI agents executed court-authorized searches in late August at Bolton’s Bethesda home and Washington, D.C., office, removing documents labeled secret, confidential and classified, as well as computers, phones and folders labeled “Trump I–IV,” according to court records.
- A heavily redacted affidavit includes a section titled “Hack of Bolton’s AOL Account by Foreign Entity,” with sources saying U.S. intelligence discovered Bolton emails during collection targeting an unnamed foreign government.
- Internal Justice Department discussions have included whether Bolton would be publicly arrested, while Maryland prosecutors are described as viewing the case as factually stronger than recent prosecutions of other Trump critics.
- Bolton denies wrongdoing through attorney Abbe Lowell, who says the materials are decades old and typical of long-serving officials; search filings referenced potential Espionage Act violations, and charges could be filed as early as next week.