John Bolton Pleads Not Guilty to Charges of Mishandling Classified Documents

Mr. Bolton appeared in federal court in Greenbelt, Md., a day after he was indicted by a grand jury.

John R. Bolton, the former national security adviser to President Trump who became one of his most outspoken critics, pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges he had mishandled classified information while a top White House aide.

Mr. Bolton, in a navy suit and red tie, appeared in Federal District Court in Greenbelt, Md., a day after he was indicted by a grand jury on 18 counts of either transmitting or illegally retaining classified information. Much of that was in the form of notes about his day-to-day work for Mr. Trump in 2018 and 2019.

The magistrate judge, Timothy J. Sullivan, released Mr. Bolton on the condition that he remain in the continental United States. Like many criminal defendants, Mr. Bolton was required to turn over his passport.

The 18-count indictment against Mr. Bolton accused him of using personal email and a messaging app to share more than 1,000 pages of notes, which included national defense information, with two family members who did not have security clearances. Those relatives were Mr. Bolton’s wife and daughter, according to people familiar with the matter. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe details of the case that were not in court filings.

Mr. Bolton’s next court date was set for Nov. 21. Because the case centers on classified information, it could take at least a year to go to trial, as there are complex pretrial procedures for handling sensitive evidence.

Both Mr. Bolton and his lawyer, Abbe Lowell, left the courthouse without addressing a swarm of TV cameras and reporters waiting outside.

After news of his indictment on Thursday, Mr. Bolton said that he was being treated unfairly by an administration determined to use the justice system to silence the president’s critics. Mr. Lowell said the issues in the case had been investigated years ago and had not been deemed worthy of criminal charges.

While Mr. Bolton is part of a string of perceived enemies of the president to become prosecutorial targets, the federal investigation into him gained momentum during the Biden administration, when U.S. intelligence agencies gathered what former officials have described as troubling evidence.

The prosecution appeared to follow normal department channels. Kelly O. Hayes, the U.S. attorney in Maryland, was among the career prosecutors to sign off on the charges in conjunction with the Justice Department’s national security division.

By contrast, Mr. Trump in recent weeks has removed or sidelined prosecutors in order to secure indictments against two of his longtime targets: James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, and Letitia James, New York’s attorney general.

If convicted of the charges, Mr. Bolton, 76, could spend the rest of his life in prison. Each count carries a maximum potential sentence of 10 years.

Related Content