John Bolton pleads not guilty to mishandling classified information in US

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Former United States National Security Adviser John Bolton has pleaded not blameworthy to national charges implicit his handling of classified information.

On Friday, Bolton surrendered to authorities astatine the national courthouse successful Greenbelt, Maryland, wherever helium besides delivered his plea.

Questions of retaliation

Bolton’s indictment is the 3rd successful a bid of charges unveiled against salient Trump critics since the president replaced the US lawyer for the Eastern District of Virginia with 1 of his idiosyncratic lawyers, Lindsey Halligan.

Since she was sworn successful connected September 22, Halligan has pursued transgression indictments against James Comey, a erstwhile manager of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Letitia James, New York state’s lawyer general.

In each 3 cases, Trump has a agelong and nationalist past of acrimony with the defendants.

Comey, for example, led the FBI during its probe of alleged Russian interference successful the 2016 statesmanlike election, a probe Trump considered a smear attempt. The president yet fired Comey aboriginal successful his archetypal term, successful 2017.

James, meanwhile, successfully led a civilian fraud lawsuit alleging that Trump and his associates astatine the Trump Organization inflated their assets to unafraid advantageous financing. In 2024, a tribunal ordered Trump to wage $364m successful damages, a sum that was aboriginal thrown retired arsenic “excessive”.

Trump named some James and Comey successful a societal media station explicitly calling connected the Department of Justice to prosecute his governmental rivals past month.

“They’re each blameworthy arsenic hell, but thing is going to beryllium done,” Trump wrote successful the post, directed astatine Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The station proceeded to asseverate that Trump had fired the erstwhile US lawyer successful Virginia for telling him they “had nary case”.

“We can’t hold immoderate longer, it’s sidesplitting our estimation and credibility,” helium continued. “They impeached maine twice, and indicted maine (5 times!) OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”

Bolton’s ties with Trump

Bolton, who was not named successful the post, has nevertheless had his ain long-running feud with the Republican leader.

Known for his hawkish overseas policy, advocating for assertive US enactment successful countries similar Iran, Bolton served successful Trump’s archetypal medication for conscionable much than a year, from 2018 to 2019. Bolton was the 3rd nationalist information advisor Trump had appointed successful little than 2 years.

It is unclear whether Bolton was yet fired from his role, arsenic Trump has claimed, oregon if helium resigned, arsenic Bolton himself maintains.

But Trump had clashed with Bolton implicit the latter’s hardline positions, a information helium has brought up successful nationalist comments.

“If I listened to him, we would beryllium successful World War Six by now,” Trump wrote successful a now-deleted station to Twitter, the level presently known arsenic X.

Bolton himself unloaded connected Trump successful a 2020 memoir of his clip successful the White House, called The Room Where It Happened. The publication accused Trump of making argumentation decisions based connected self-interest and showing a deficiency of consciousness astir planetary affairs. Bolton adjacent suggested Trump had petitioned China to boost his re-election prospects.

“He couldn’t archer the quality betwixt his idiosyncratic interests and the country’s interests,” Bolton wrote astatine 1 point.

The erstwhile nationalist information advisor besides made appearances connected quality channels, serving arsenic a professional of Trump and his policies.

Inside the indictment

When Trump returned to bureau for a 2nd word successful January, Bolton was among the archetypal erstwhile officials to look backlash from the incoming administration.

On January 21, a time aft his inauguration, Trump stripped Bolton of his information clearance, a determination Bolton criticised, fixed the assassination effort helium allegedly faced from Iranian forces.

“I americium disappointed but not surprised,” Bolton wrote connected societal media.

“The Justice Department filed transgression charges against an Iranian Revolutionary Guard authoritative successful 2022 for attempting to prosecute a deed antheral to people me. That menace remains today.”

Then, successful August, FBI officials raided Bolton’s location successful Bethesda, Maryland, leaving with machine drives and respective boxes of material.

The 26-page transgression indictment, released connected Thursday, marks an escalation from that investigation.

Bolton, it says, “abused his presumption arsenic National Security Advisor by sharing much than a 1000 pages of accusation astir his day-to-day activities arsenic National Security Advisor – including accusation relating to the nationalist defence which was classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level – with 2 unauthorized individuals”.

It besides accuses Bolton of having “unlawfully retained documents, writings, and notes relating to nationalist defense”.

Some of those writings, the indictment explains, were “diary-like entries” that were initially handwritten and aboriginal transcribed and sent to the 2 recipients electronically.

Those recipients person been reported successful US media to beryllium relatives, perchance Bolton’s woman and daughter.

The indictment adds that, aft Bolton near office, helium was targeted by a “cyber histrion believed to beryllium associated with the Islamic Republic”. That, successful turn, whitethorn person granted the hacker entree to the classified materials Bolton had.

Critics person pointed retired that Trump himself had been indicted successful a classified documents case, with an probe retrieving immoderate 33 boxes and 11,000 records from the Republican leader’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

Federal prosecutors had alleged that Trump attempted to conceal those documents successful lawsuit that was dropped shortly earlier his 2nd term. It is Justice Department argumentation not to prosecute a sitting president.

Since taking office, Trump officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, person likewise travel nether occurrence for sharing delicate subject accusation implicit the messaging app Signal – accusation that was accidentally shared with a journalist.

Bolton had criticised the Signal app leak publicly, appearing successful US media to blast the Trump officials’ conduct. Those words were utilized successful Thursday’s indictment arsenic grounds that Bolton was alert of the information procedures indispensable to grip delicate information.

“I couldn’t find a mode to explicit however stunned I was that anybody would bash this,” Bolton is quoted arsenic saying. “You simply don’t usage commercialized means of communication, whether it’s supposedly an encrypted app oregon not, for these kinds of discussions.”

Bolton has denied the charges against him and alternatively called the caller drawstring of indictments an effort by Trump to “intimidate his opponents”.

“I person go the latest people successful weaponising the Justice Department to complaint those helium deems to beryllium his enemies with charges that were declined earlier oregon distort the facts,” Bolton said successful a statement.

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