Trump Critic John Bolton Pleads Guilty to Mishandling Classified Info

John Bolton, the former national security adviser to President Donald Trump who became one of the president’s most prominent critics, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of mishandling classified information.

Appearing in federal court in Maryland, Bolton admitted to retaining classified information and sharing it with two relatives as he was working on a book about his time in the first Trump administration.

Asked by U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang if he was guilty of the charge, Bolton responded, “I am, your honor, and I’m sorry for it.”

Bolton could face five years in prison and three years of supervised release under the plea agreement. The judge will determine his sentence at a hearing scheduled for late October.

Bolton also agreed to pay a $2.25 million fine, with half due within five days of sentencing.

The deal also includes a provision requiring Bolton to debrief members of the intelligence community and Justice Department on conduct related to the offense. Bolton further agreed to provide the government up to 100 hours of community service to help officials address issues related “to the improper disclosure, handling, and retention of classified information by public officials.”

The plea is a key victory for Trump, who, since returning to office, has used the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute several of his political foes and critics. Most of those cases have sputtered.

Bolton’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement that Bolton, a former United Nations ambassador, had taken responsibility for his “mistake.” Lowell also criticized Trump, who was charged with mishandling classified documents after his first term as president in a case that a federal judge later threw out.

“Today, Ambassador Bolton did what real leaders do,” he said. “Ambassador Bolton, whose offense was only keeping a diary which contained classified information, kept a record to preserve history, but Donald Trump kept secrets to serve himself.”

Bolton had pleaded not guilty in the case, which centered on what prosecutors called “diary-like” entries he kept from the first Trump administration in his home in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C.

The initial indictment included 18 counts and accused Bolton of using a private messaging app and email to share with two family members more than 1,000 pages of information, some of it top secret, about his day-to-day activities as national security adviser.

U.S. Attorney Kelly Hayes said Bolton had put national security at “grave risk” through his actions.

“Mr. Bolton knew how to handle classified information, where it should be stored, how it should be stored, and with whom he could share that information,” she told reporters Friday. “He also knew the damage to national security that could be caused by mishandling that sensitive information.”