John Bolton, who served as national security adviser during President Trump's first term before becoming a vocal critic, was indicted on Thursday on 18 charges related to the mishandling of classified documents. Details from the [indictment](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26189238-bolton/) filed in Maryland's district court charge Bolton with eight counts for the transmission of national defense information and 10 counts of unlawful retention of such information. Each count faces a maximum of 10 years in prison. In a statement, the Justice Department said Bolton illegally transmitted classified information using a personal email and messaging applications, including U.S. "intelligence about future attacks, foreign adversaries, and foreign-policy relations." "There is one tier of justice for all Americans," Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. "Anyone who abuses a position of power and jeopardizes our national security will be held accountable." The charges come about two months after the [FBI executed a search warrant](https://www.npr.org/2025/08/22/g-s1-84546/fbi-home-john-bolton) at Bolton's suburban Washington home. Court papers said agents recovered documents marked as classified, including references to weapons of mass destruction. Bolton served in Trump's first term in the White House for just over a year but has since become a sharp critic of the president. He [has said](https://www.c-span.org/program/public-affairs-event/former-national-security-advisor-john-bolton-on-democracy-and-rule-of-law/640211) he believed Trump would use the Department of Justice to enact a "retribution presidency." The investigation against Bolton dates back to before Trump's return to office. Bolton's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said the charges in the case were "resolved years ago." He said the charges stem from documents tied to Bolton's personal diaries, and never included classified information. "Like many public officials throughout history, Amb. Bolton kept diaries — that is not a crime. We look forward to proving once again that Amb. Bolton did not unlawfully share or store any information," Lowell said in a statement. Bolton was one of the former administration officials whose [security clearances](https://www.npr.org/2025/02/07/nx-s1-5290260/trump-biden-security-clearance) Trump stripped when he returned to office. Trump also revoked Bolton's security detail, which was in place because of threats from Iran. Bolton published [_The Room Where It Happened_](https://www.npr.org/2020/06/17/879609378/john-bolton-unloads-on-former-boss-trump-even-if-its-a-little-late-now) in 2020, a memoir about his time in the White House that was critical of Trump's approach to foreign policy and the presidency in general. The Trump administration [sued to try to block](https://www.npr.org/2020/06/17/879041080/trump-seeks-to-block-publication-of-john-boltons-white-house-memoir) the book's publication, alleging that Bolton hadn't gone through the proper clearance process and that his manuscript contained classified information. A judge declined that request, but said Bolton's conduct [raised national security concerns](https://www.npr.org/2020/06/22/881500085/transcript-nprs-full-interview-with-john-bolton). The Biden administration [dismissed the lawsuit](https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-joe-biden-lawsuits-entertainment-government-and-politics-0bc0171d2dc3392623ab18278a1a94ef), and prosecutors dropped a grand jury investigation the following year. The charges against Bolton follow two other recent indictments, including against [former FBI Director James Comey](https://www.npr.org/2025/09/25/nx-s1-5552690/james-comey-indicted), another Trump critic, on one count of making false statements and one count of obstruction of justice in connection with his [testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee nearly five years ago](https://www.npr.org/2020/09/30/918438002/graham-plans-new-political-offensive-in-hearing-with-old-foe-comey). And a grand jury indicted New York Attorney General [Letitia James](https://www.npr.org/2025/10/09/nx-s1-5569792/letitia-james-indictment-trump) last week on one count of bank fraud and one count of making a false statement to a financial institution. James, a Democrat, pledged to investigate Trump and won a case against him and his company for inflating the value of some of its properties. Trump had publicly called on the Justice Department to prosecute James and Comey in a social media post last month; Bolton wasn't included in that post. The indictments came [after](https://www.npr.org/2025/09/25/nx-s1-5552690/james-comey-indicted) the top federal prosecutor in Northern Virginia cast doubt on the evidence against both Comey and James, only to be forced out by the president and [replaced with one of Trump's former defense attorneys](https://www.npr.org/2025/09/21/nx-s1-5549086/trump-nominates-white-house-aide-top-us-prosecutor-probing-letitia-james).

[James Comey](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/james-comey), the former FBI director, and the New York attorney general, [Letitia James](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/letitia-james), will ask a federal judge on Thursday to drop the criminal charges against them, arguing that [Donald Trump](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/donaldtrump)’s hand-picked US attorney, who obtained the indictments against them, was unlawfully appointed. The hearing at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia in front of Judge Cameron Currie will mark the first time a judge will consider one of several efforts James and Comey have made to dismiss the indictments before trials. The arguments center on whether [Lindsey Halligan](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/22/white-house-aide-erik-siebert-office), Trump’s former personal attorney, was illegally installed as interim US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia. If Halligan is deemed to be unlawfully appointed, then the charges against Comey and James could be invalidated since Halligan was the only federal prosecutor to present evidence to the grand juries in both matters. Comey has pleaded not guilty to charges of making false statements and obstructing Congress, while James has pleaded not guilty to charges of bank fraud and lying to a financial institution. Both were charged by Halligan’s office shortly after Trump openly called on the US attorney general, Pam Bondi, to prosecute them. Bondi appointed Halligan at Trump’s request in September, after her predecessor, Erik Siebert, was forced out of the job after expressing concerns about a lack of evidence to support criminal charges against both Comey and James, two prominent critics of Trump who each oversaw investigations into him. Attorneys for Comey and James will argue that Halligan’s appointment violates a federal law they said limits the appointment of an interim US attorney to one 120-day stint. Repeated interim appointments would bypass the Senate confirmation process and allow a prosecutor to serve indefinitely, they said. Siebert had been previously appointed by Bondi for 120 days and was then appointed by the US district court for the eastern district of Virginia, since the Senate had not yet confirmed him in the role. Meanwhile, it emerged last month that Halligan’s [use of an encrypted messaging application](https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/anna--lindsey-halligan-here) with messages set to be automatically deleted after eight hours was potentially illegal, two watchdog groups had said. Halligan used the Signal platform [to communicate](https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/anna--lindsey-halligan-here) with Anna Bower, a journalist for Lawfare, about the criminal case against Comey and James. Bower [published the full conversation](https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/26190909-signal-screenshots/) and said Halligan had set messages to auto-delete after eight hours. Thursday’s arguments are before Currie, a South Carolina-based federal judge appointed by former Democratic US president Bill Clinton, who was assigned to decide the issue given the role federal judges in Virginia played in Siebert’s appointment. A decision is not expected on Thursday. The justice department plans to argue that Halligan’s appointment was lawful, saying that nothing in the law “explicitly or implicitly precludes the Attorney General from making additional appointments”. In an effort to bolster its case, Bondi also belatedly, in late October, separately gave Halligan a second title of “special attorney” and said she was authorized to supervise both prosecutions. Outside legal experts, however, have said the justice department’s unusual maneuvers to install Halligan could derail the cases. Three federal judges in other cases have already separately ruled against the justice department on the issue, finding that Bondi unlawfully appointed US attorneys in New Jersey, Nevada and Los Angeles. In addition, a justice department memo written in 1986 by Samuel Alito, who is now one of the [US supreme court](https://www.theguardian.com/law/us-supreme-court)’s conservative justices, interprets the law the same way Comey and James do. _Reuters contributed reporting_