Former National Security Advisor John Bolton, a Bethesda resident, pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in Maryland to one count of retaining national defense information, resolving all 18 counts that had been filed against him, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland. Bolton, 77, served as National Security Advisor from April 2018 through September 2019.
According to court documents, Bolton incorporated highly sensitive classified information he learned through his official duties into personal diary entries documenting his daily activities. Prosecutors said the diaries contained information classified up to the TOP SECRET level, including Sensitive Compartmented Information involving foreign military operations, covert U.S. government activities, and intelligence gathered from human sources and intercepted communications.
Federal prosecutors alleged Bolton transmitted those diary entries to two family members who were not authorized to receive classified information using personal email accounts and a non-government messaging application that was not approved for classified material. Court documents also state that he retained copies of the documents at his Bethesda home, where they were not authorized to be stored.
According to prosecutors, after Bolton left office in September 2019, a cyber actor believed to be associated with the Islamic Republic of Iran hacked his personal email account. Court documents state Bolton reported the cyber intrusion to law enforcement but did not disclose that the account contained national defense information.
As part of the plea agreement, Bolton pleaded guilty to one count of retention of national defense information. The agreement resolves all charges in the indictment. Bolton faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. Under the terms of the plea agreement, he also agreed to pay a $2.25 million fine. Federal law further provides that his conviction bars him, and potentially his survivors, from collecting a federal retirement annuity.
U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang has scheduled sentencing for Wednesday, October 28, at 9:30am. In announcing the plea, the U.S. Attorney’s Office credited the FBI Baltimore Field Office, the FBI Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, and the FBI New York Field Office for assisting in the investigation.
