Former national security adviser John Bolton will plead guilty to mishandling classified information from his time in President Trump’s first administration, accepting a single count that carries up to five years in prison and a fine exceeding $2 million.
From 18 Counts To Single Charge
Bolton, 77, faced indictment in October 2025 on 18 counts of illegally hoarding and transmitting sensitive government information. The charges centered primarily on his controversial 2020 bestseller “The Room Where It Happened,” which provided an insider’s account of his White House tenure. Federal prosecutors will accept his guilty plea to one count of illegal retention of classified information during a hearing scheduled for June 26 in Greenbelt, Maryland federal court.
The Justice Department attempted to block publication of Bolton’s book in 2020, and the first Trump administration launched an investigation that concluded within a year. Neither Bolton’s representatives nor the Justice Department provided immediate comment on the plea agreement.
Security Breach And Iranian Hackers
Prosecutors accused Bolton of transmitting over 1,000 pages of sensitive material from his personal email account to two individuals lacking proper security clearance, understood to be his wife and daughter. The gravity of the security breach intensified when Iranian-linked hackers infiltrated Bolton’s AOL email account, exposing the classified information he had sent to family members. Bolton faces persistent security threats from Iran following his role in the January 2020 killing of military commander Qassem Soleimani.
Additional charges alleged Bolton knowingly sent secret information to outside contacts during his White House service, including top secret documents revealing details about potential future U.S. military operations. The hawkish foreign policy adviser, known for his advocacy of regime change in Iran, served as Trump’s national security adviser from April 2018 until his firing in September 2019.
Federal Raids Uncover Trove
Bolton assured federal investigators after his dismissal that he possessed no classified material. That assurance proved false when federal agents raided his Washington D.C. office and Maryland home on August 22, 2025. The search uncovered documents concerning weapons of mass destruction, internal government communications about national strategy, secret travel memos, and materials related to the U.S. mission to the United Nations, according to court filings.
The case represents a significant prosecution of a former senior official for mishandling classified information, particularly involving material that reached hostile foreign actors through cyber intrusion. The $2 million fine component suggests prosecutors documented substantial damage from the security breach beyond the criminal conduct itself.