Former Trump nationwide safety adviser John Bolton has pleaded not responsible to all 18 counts of an indictment charging him with illegal retention and dissemination of nationwide protection info.
Bolton entered his not responsible plea Friday morning in a listening to in federal court docket in Maryland earlier than Chief Justice of the Peace Choose Timothy Sullivan.
He was indicted by a grand jury Thursday on fees that he allegedly unlawfully transmitted and retained categorised paperwork.
The indictment comes on the heels of the indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Lawyer Normal Letitia James as President Donald Trump continues what critics name a campaign of retribution towards his perceived political foes.
In contrast to at Comey’s arraignment final week, Bolton’s lawyer Abbe Lowell on Friday didn’t provide a lot in the best way of any preview of his protection technique for the costs Bolton is going through.
Choose Sullivan set a Nov. 14 deadline for pretrial motions to be filed within the case, and in addition set a scheduling convention for Nov. 21.
Bolton appeared comfortable all through the listening to, and responded to the decide’s normal questions asking him if he understood the character of the costs towards him and the potential penalties he might face if he’s convicted.
Former White Home nationwide safety adviser John Bolton arrives at U.S. District Court docket for the District of Maryland, in Greenbelt, Maryland, October 17, 2025.
Leah Millis/Reuters
He was launched on recognizance with common launch circumstances, and should give up his passport to his authorized counsel, and is prohibited from touring outdoors of the U.S. until he will get pre-approval from the court docket.
Bolton is charged with eight counts of illegal transmission of nationwide protection info in addition to 10 counts of illegal retention of nationwide protection info.
Seven of the transmissions allegedly occurred through the time when Bolton was serving at Trump’s nationwide safety adviser in 2018 and 2019, whereas one other doc was allegedly despatched by Bolton simply days after President Donald Trump eliminated him from the administration in September of 2019.
The indictment accuses Bolton of abusing his place as nationwide safety adviser by sharing “greater than a thousand pages” of knowledge in “diary-like entries” about his day-to-day actions with two recipients recognized solely as “Particular person 1” and “Particular person 2,” who prosecutors say are Bolton’s kinfolk.
Sources informed ABC Information that the kinfolk referred to within the indictment as ‘Particular person 1’ and ‘Particular person 2’ are Bolton’s spouse and daughter.
Bolton has been a goal of Trump’s ire since leaving Trump’s first administration and publishing a tell-all e-book. Federal brokers in August searched Bolton’s Maryland residence and Washington, D.C., workplace, associated to allegations that Bolton possessed categorised info.
The investigation is being run out of the U.S. lawyer’s workplace in Maryland, not like the Comey and James probes that are being performed by the Trump-appointed U.S. lawyer within the Japanese District of Virginia, who sources say introduced the Comey and James fees against the advice of profession prosecutors.
Comey, who was indicted on fees of mendacity to Congress, and James, who’s charged with mortgage fraud, have each denied wrongdoing.
