Is This Retaliation Against a Trump Critic? Former Advisor Bolton Indicted

Shared Classified Information with Family and Kept at Home During Tenure
Trump Says, "That's Just How the World Works"

John Bolton, who served as White House National Security Advisor during President Donald Trump's first term, was indicted on October 16 (local time) on charges of leaking national secrets.

According to The New York Times (NYT) and other sources, a federal grand jury in Maryland indicted former Advisor Bolton on 18 counts of unlawfully retaining and disclosing defense secrets, including top secret information.

John Bolton, former White House National Security Advisor. Photo by AP Yonhap News

According to the indictment, Bolton shared more than 1,000 pages of diary-like records detailing his work as National Security Advisor from April 2018 to September 2019 with two family members who did not have security clearance.

Prosecutors stated that these materials contained information obtained from meetings with military officials, foreign leaders, and intelligence agency members, some of which were classified at the highest level.

The personal email account Bolton used to send these materials was later hacked, and U.S. authorities determined that the hacker was linked to the Iranian government.

Prosecutors also claimed that Bolton printed a significant portion of these materials and kept them at his home in Maryland.

In a statement, Bolton argued that the indictment is part of an effort to intimidate critics of President Trump.

Bolton was dismissed after clashing with President Trump over key foreign policy issues such as North Korea and Iran, and subsequently became a prominent anti-Trump figure.

He also sparked controversy by portraying President Trump critically in his 2020 memoir. At the time, the Department of Justice investigated whether Bolton had disclosed classified information in his book, but did not indict him.

Recently, following the indictments of Trump's political opponents-former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James-Bolton's indictment has also raised concerns about retaliation. However, the NYT reported that this investigation gained momentum under the previous Biden administration.

The Washington Post (WP) also reported that the indictment was signed not by a prosecutor handpicked by President Trump, but by Kelly Hayes, an experienced and respected prosecutor. However, the outlet cited sources stating that senior Justice Department officials pressured the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office to expedite the indictment, and that John Eisenberg, who leads the Justice Department's national security division involved in the Bolton investigation, was at the White House the previous day.

Meanwhile, at a White House event on the same day, President Trump responded to questions about the indictment by saying, "He is a bad person," and added, "That's just how the world works."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.