Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton has pleaded guilty to illegally retaining classified information, sealing a deal with federal prosecutors that could allow him to avoid a prison term.
Bolton, who became an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump after serving in the Republican’s first administration, is scheduled to be sentenced on October 28 by the court.
Bolton pleaded guilty to a single count of illegally retaining classified information on Friday.
His plea agreement with the Justice Department may enable him to avoid time behind bars, but the judge ultimately will decide his punishment.
The plea agreement recommends capping any prison sentence at five years, but the judge isn’t bound by that part of the deal. Bolton can withdraw his guilty plea if the judge imposes a longer prison sentence or a fine exceeding $2.25 million.
Bolton was charged last October with 18 counts of either retaining or disseminating classified information, including diary-like notes that he shared with relatives as he wrote a memoir about his career in government.
Bolton didn’t mount a vigorous defence against his charges before cutting a deal.
Bolton under criminal scrutiny
FBI agents searched Bolton’s Maryland home and Washington, DC, office last August, but the investigation began before Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.
Bolton served for more than a year in Trump’s first administration before getting pushed out in 2019.
He later published a book titled “The Room Where it Happened,” which presented an unflattering portrait of Trump’s leadership.
The Trump administration fought unsuccessfully to block the book’s release, claiming it contained classified information that could jeopardise national security.
Trump derided Bolton as a “crazy” warmonger who would have led the country into “World War Six.”
Bolton’s indictment focused on notes that he shared with his wife and daughter rather than the contents of his book.
After sending one document, Bolton wrote in a message to his relatives, “None of which we talk about!!!” In response, one of his relatives wrote, “Shhhhh,” prosecutors said.
