Former National Security Advisor John Bolton is in the news, as he’s surrendered to federal authorities. He is staring down an indictment with 18 counts for the willful mishandling of classified materials. That indictment was issued by the federal district court grand jury sitting in Maryland. To this end, Bolton decided he wanted to turn himself in voluntarily to accept the criminal charges against him.
Bolton was President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor. Now, he is under investigation for improperly storing and disseminating sensitive information. One remarkable aspect of his tenure is that he kept verbatim minutes chronicling each day’s meetings, events, and confidences. Bolton often handwrote these notes on yellow legal pads, which eventually found their way into a computer word processing file.
The indictment shows that most of Bolton’s diary entries were packed with sensitive and highly-classified national security information. He is said to have violated protocol by conducting business on personal email accounts and a WhatsApp group chat. He then shared his field notes and diary entries with two people— unnamed individuals —who did not have the necessary security clearances.
The probe that’s led to Bolton’s indictment started in 2022 under President Joe Biden’s administration. It has raised important questions about the treatment of classified materials by those in power.
Bolton’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, made a vigorous defense of his client, claiming that Bolton had done nothing wrong. Lowell pointed out that these charges come from the diaries kept by Bolton. He asserts that these diaries were unclassified and only distributed to family members.
“These charges stem from portions of Ambassador Bolton’s personal diaries over his 45-year career – records that are unclassified, shared only with his immediate family, and known to the FBI as far back as 2021.” – Abbe Lowell
Lowell’s other argument was the frequent practice of diary keeping by public officials – which should not be criminalized.
“Like many public officials throughout history, Ambassador Bolton kept diaries – that is not a crime.” – Abbe Lowell
Bolton’s notes are filled with of an astounding level of detail during his tenure as National Security Advisor. As alleged in the indictment, he kept detailed records of his daily meetings and conversations.
“Bolton took detailed notes documenting his day-to-day meetings, activities and briefings. Frequently, Bolton handwrote these notes on yellow notepads throughout his day at the White House complex or in other secure locations, and then later re-wrote his notes in a word processing document,” – The indictment
The indictment shows that on September 24, 2019, Bolton went out on a limb. Only two weeks after resigning as National Security Advisor he was out of the messaging chat group on which he had been sharing his notes with his two other compatriots. During this short time span, he allegedly mailed them over 1,000 pages chronicling his work in the position.
Bolton’s controversial high-profile career has been defined by his strident neocon views and opposition to Donald Trump himself. In his memoir, he unflinchingly called Trump unqualified to be president. This powerful characterization has made the battle lines even more sharp between them.
As Bolton awaits his first court appearance, he has indicated a willingness to fight the charges brought against him.
“I look forward to the fight to defend my lawful conduct and to expose [Trump’s] abuse of power.” – Bolton
To say that Bolton’s legal proceedings will be heavily watched is an understatement. His high profile role in national security and his feisty, antagonistic relationship with the former president will attract considerable attention.