President Donald Trump on Friday mocked former National Security Adviser John Bolton after his one-time aide admitted to mishandling a classified national defense document.
Bolton pleaded guilty hours earlier during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, to one count of unauthorized possession of a national defense document. His guilty plea was part of a plea agreement that will see prosecutors dismiss the remaining 17 counts at sentencing. The guilty plea prompted an immediate response from Trump, who has repeatedly clashed with Bolton over foreign policy and the former adviser’s highly critical memoir ever since their very public falling out in 2019.
„John Bolton, a very dumb, unbalanced, and unskilled former representative of the United States of America, just pleads guilty!“ Trump wrote in a Truth Social post late Friday. „He is a terrible person, a lunatic who only wanted to start trouble and wars, and who was a needless pusher of death and destruction wherever he went. Hopefully, he will be dealt with harshly!“
Bolton, 77, is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 28 and, under his plea agreement, faces a $2.25 million fine, up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, up to 100 hours of community service and he will lose his federal retirement pension. His defense attorneys have said that they hope Bolton will avoid jail time.
EX-TRUMP OFFICIAL JOHN BOLTON PLEADS GUILTY TO 1 OF 18 COUNTS IN CLASSIFIED DOCS INDICTMENT
According to prosecutors, Bolton unlawfully kept classified national defense information after leaving government service, including documents classified as top secret. Authorities alleged he kept more than 1,000 pages of notes detailing his day-to-day activities as national security adviser and shared portions of that material with two family members using a personal email account.
Federal prosecutors said the documents included highly sensitive intelligence involving covert action programs, human intelligence sources and methods, and foreign military threats.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the investigation demonstrated that Bolton knowingly mishandled classified information.
BOLTON CASE PACKED WITH ‘VERY DAMNING’ EVIDENCE AND NATIONAL SECURITY RISKS, LEGAL EXPERTS WARN
„This FBI’s investigation proved that John Bolton knowingly transmitted top secret information using personal online accounts and retained said documents in his house – all in direct violation of federal law,“ Patel said in a statement to Fox News Digital. „Despite an onslaught of false claims by the fake news stating this case was ‘retribution,’ this investigation was based on meticulous work from dedicated professionals at the FBI who followed the facts without fear or favor – and Bolton chose to admit his guilt and plead guilty.“
Bolton served as Trump’s national security adviser from April 2018 until September 2019. Trump has said he fired Bolton, while Bolton said that he resigned.
Their relationship deteriorated further following the publication of Bolton’s 2020 memoir, „The Room Where It Happened,“ which offered a highly critical account of Trump’s presidency. The Trump administration sought unsuccessfully to block the book’s publication, arguing it contained classified information. Bolton never faced any charges stemming from allegations that his memoir contained classified information.
Bolton’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, defended his client’s decision to plead guilty, saying it reflected accountability.
„He took responsibility for a mistake he made, thereby saving the government resources to pursue a case that could expose additional sensitive information,“ Lowell said in a statement. „By contrast, President Trump thumbed his nose at the classified information laws, took actual classified documents to his Florida mansion, interfered with the investigation of that conduct, and has never accepted any accountability for his conduct. Ambassador Bolton, whose offense was only keeping a diary which contained classified information, kept a record to preserve history, but Donald Trump kept secrets to serve himself.“
Trump unloads on ‘lunatic’ John Bolton after ex-aide pleads guilty in classified docs case 2026 IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2025 2026-06-27 18:33:32 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
