Hawkish national security figure has emerged as critic of President Trump after serving during his first term in office.
John Bolton, a prominent critic of US President Donald Trump who once served as his national security adviser, has pleaded guilty to unlawfully retaining classified information during a federal court hearing in Maryland.
Bolton pleaded guilty on Friday in a case related to the sharing of documents with two relatives for possible use in a book he was writing, including notes on intelligence briefings and meetings with senior government officials and foreign leaders. He pleaded not guilty to 18 criminal charges last year.
“I’m sorry for it,” Bolton told US District Judge Theodore D Chuang during the hearing.
Bolton, who served as national security adviser during Trump’s first term, is one of several noteworthy political opponents who have faced prosecution by Trump’s Department of Justice, erasing longstanding norms that had separated law enforcement efforts from partisan considerations.
However, unlike other cases brought against Trump critics, the Bolton investigation began before Trump returned to office in 2025 and had the backing of career federal prosecutors.
The news service Reuters had previously reported that, as part of an agreement with federal prosecutors, Bolton would plead guilty in exchange for a sentence ranging from no prison time to a maximum of five years in prison. The hawkish national security figure is scheduled to be sentenced in October.
Bolton also reportedly agreed to pay a $2.25m fine and committed to 100 hours of community service. He was accused of sharing sensitive information with two relatives, including notes from intelligence briefings and meetings with foreign leaders, for possible use in a memoir chronicling his experiences in the White House during Trump’s first term in office.
The book, titled, The Room Where It Happened, was critical of Trump, whom Bolton said was unfit to serve as president. Trump has since slammed Bolton as a “crazy” individual who was obsessed with war and would have led the country into “World War Six”.
