{"id":1571,"date":"2026-06-05T18:34:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T18:34:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1571"},"modified":"2026-06-05T18:34:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T18:34:43","slug":"ex-national-security-adviser-john-bolton-will-plead-guilty-in-classified-information-case-source-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1571","title":{"rendered":"Ex-national security adviser John Bolton will plead guilty in classified information case, source says"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014\u00a0Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton\u00a0has agreed to plead guilty to a single count of retaining classified information under a deal with the Justice Department that could allow him to avoid prison time, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday.<\/p>\n

Read more Former funeral home director sentenced for hiding corpse for more than 2 decades<\/a><\/p>\n

The deal would resolve a criminal case filed in October that charged Bolton with\u00a018 counts\u00a0of either retaining or disseminating classified information, including diary-like notes from his time in government that officials say he shared with his family members as he was preparing a memoir about his time in office.<\/p>\n

Under the agreement, Bolton would also face a $2.25 million fine, said the person, who insisted on anonymity to discuss a deal that had not been made public. Any prison sentence would be capped at five years, but the agreement could also allow for him to avoid time behind bars. The punishment will ultimately be up to a judge.<\/p>\n

The case against Bolton, filed weeks after prosecutors secured indictments against former\u00a0FBI Director James Comey\u00a0and\u00a0New York Attorney General Letitia James, unfolded against the backdrop of concerns that the Justice Department was using its law enforcement powers to pursue perceived adversaries of President Donald Trump. The investigation\u00a0burst into public view last August\u00a0when FBI agents served search warrants at his Maryland home and Washington office, but it had been well underway by the time Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.<\/p>\n

Wrote book critical of Trump<\/h3>\n

Bolton is a longtime fixture in Republican foreign policy circles who became known for his hawkish views on American power. He served for more than a year in Trump\u2019s first administration before being\u00a0fired in 2019\u00a0and publishing a critical book that portrayed the Republican president as deeply misinformed and painted an unflattering portrait of his leadership and decision-making.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s administration fought unsuccessfully to\u00a0block the publication of \u201cThe Room Where it Happened\u201d\u00a0on the grounds that the book contained classified information that could harm national security if exposed. Bolton\u2019s lawyers have said he moved forward with the book after a White House National Security Council official, with whom Bolton had worked for months, said the manuscript no longer had classified information.<\/p>\n

A re-arraignment, which can signal a plea agreement, is scheduled for June 26 in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland.<\/p>\n

The Justice Department declined to comment.<\/p>\n

The indictment\u2019s 18 counts carried a threat of a substantial prison sentence in the event of conviction, but the plea will avert that possibility.<\/p>\n

Accused of sharing classified material with family members<\/h3>\n

The indictment focused on the notes he shared with his<\/p>\n

Court documents alleged that he shared with two family members \u201cdiary-like\u201d entries with information classified as high as top secret that he had learned from meetings with other U.S. government officials, from intelligence briefings or talks with foreign leaders. After sending one document, Bolton wrote in a message to his relatives, \u201cNone of which we talk about!!!\u201d In response, one of his relatives wrote, \u201cShhhhh,\u201d prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

Read more 18-year-old accused of leading troopers on pursuit through Mesa, Tempe and Phoenix<\/a><\/p>\n

The indictment said that among the material shared was information about foreign adversaries that in some cases revealed details about sources and methods used by the U.S. government to collect intelligence. One document related to a foreign adversary\u2019s plans for a missile launch, while another detailed U.S. government plans for covert action and included intelligence blaming an adversary for an attack, court papers say.<\/p>\n

In a statement released after his indictment, Bolton described the charges as part of an \u201cintensive effort\u201d by Trump \u201cto intimidate his opponents, to ensure that he alone determines what is said about his conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bolton\u2019s government service long predated the Trump administration. He had also served in the Justice Department during President Ronald Reagan\u2019s administration and was a State Department point person on arms control during George W. Bush\u2019s presidency.<\/p>\n

Bolton was nominated by Bush to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, but the strong supporter of the Iraq War was unable to win Senate confirmation. He resigned after serving 17 months through a recess appointment that allowed him to hold the job on a temporary basis without Senate approval.<\/p>\n

Fired after foreign policy clashes with Trump<\/h3>\n

In 2018, Bolton was appointed to serve as Trump\u2019s third national security adviser. His brief tenure was characterized by disputes with the president over North Korea, Iran and Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Those rifts ultimately led to Bolton\u2019s departure, with Trump announcing on social media in September 2019 that he had accepted Bolton\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n

Bolton subsequently criticized Trump\u2019s approach to foreign policy and government in his book,\u00a0including by alleging that Trump directly tied providing military aid to Ukraine\u00a0to that country\u2019s willingness to conduct investigations into Joe Biden, who was soon to be Trump\u2019s Democratic rival in the 2020 presidential election, and members of the Biden family.<\/p>\n

Trump responded by slamming Bolton as a \u201cwashed-up guy\u201d and a \u201ccrazy\u201d warmonger who would have led the country into \u201cWorld War Six.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more In public letter, Ukraine\u2019s Zelenskyy calls on Putin for direct negotiations in a neutral country<\/a><\/p>\n

_____<\/p>\n

Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton\u00a0has agreed to plead guilty to a single count of retaining classified information under a deal with the Justice Department that could allow him to avoid prison time, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nEx-national security adviser John Bolton will plead guilty in classified information case, source says - Tucson Moving Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1571\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ex-national security adviser John Bolton will plead guilty in classified information case, source says - Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton\u00a0has agreed to plead guilty to a single count of retaining classified information under a deal with the Justice Department that could allow him to avoid prison time, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1571\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-05T18:34:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1571#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1571\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\"},\"headline\":\"Ex-national security adviser John Bolton will plead guilty in classified information case, source says\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-05T18:34:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1571\"},\"wordCount\":903,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1571#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/9db146226b091771948bf1aec3a882b7.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1571#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1571\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1571\",\"name\":\"Ex-national security adviser John Bolton will plead guilty in classified information case, source says - Tucson Moving Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1571#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1571#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/9db146226b091771948bf1aec3a882b7.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-05T18:34:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1571#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1571\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1571#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/9db146226b091771948bf1aec3a882b7.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/9db146226b091771948bf1aec3a882b7.avif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=1571#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ex-national security adviser John Bolton will plead guilty in classified information case, source says\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tucson Moving Report\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ex-national security adviser John Bolton will plead guilty in classified information case, source says - Tucson Moving Report","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1571","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ex-national security adviser John Bolton will plead guilty in classified information case, source says - Tucson Moving Report","og_description":"Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton\u00a0has agreed to plead guilty to a single count of retaining classified information under a deal with the Justice Department that could allow him to avoid prison time, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday.","og_url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1571","og_site_name":"Tucson Moving Report","article_published_time":"2026-06-05T18:34:43+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1571#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1571"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255"},"headline":"Ex-national security adviser John Bolton will plead guilty in classified information case, source says","datePublished":"2026-06-05T18:34:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1571"},"wordCount":903,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1571#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/9db146226b091771948bf1aec3a882b7.avif","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1571#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1571","url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1571","name":"Ex-national security adviser John Bolton will plead guilty in classified information case, source says - Tucson Moving Report","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1571#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1571#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/9db146226b091771948bf1aec3a882b7.avif","datePublished":"2026-06-05T18:34:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1571#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1571"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1571#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/9db146226b091771948bf1aec3a882b7.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/9db146226b091771948bf1aec3a882b7.avif","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=1571#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ex-national security adviser John Bolton will plead guilty in classified information case, source says"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/","name":"Tucson Moving Report","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com"],"url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}