By: Carl Schwartzbaum

In a stunning legal development that reverberated through Washington’s foreign policy establishment, former National Security Adviser John Bolton was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on 18 counts of illegally hoarding and transmitting sensitive national security information — a case that could see the 76-year-old foreign policy veteran facing decades in prison if convicted.

According to an explosive report in The New York Post, the indictment, unsealed in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, accuses Bolton of willfully retaining and sharing classified materials through unsecured channels, including his personal AOL email account, while serving in the Trump administration. The indictment paints a portrait of a senior official — once considered a guardian of U.S. national security orthodoxy — who allegedly flouted the very safeguards he long championed.

Federal prosecutors allege that Bolton “knowingly transmitted sensitive materials to outside contacts” and continued to store government secrets long after leaving the White House in September 2019, when he was dismissed by President Donald Trump. If convicted on all counts, the former national security adviser could face a theoretical maximum sentence of 180 years in prison — 10 years for each of the 18 counts.

Bolton’s indictment marks a dramatic reversal for one of the most recognizable figures in American foreign policy over the past four decades. As The New York Post report noted, Bolton built his career on his hawkish views on Iran, North Korea, and global terrorism, earning senior posts under Presidents Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump.

Yet the charges laid out by federal prosecutors suggest a profound breach of the principles Bolton spent years espousing. According to court filings reviewed by The Post, investigators believe Bolton stored or transmitted highly classified documents that included sensitive information related to weapons of mass destruction, U.S. strategy at the United Nations, interagency communications, and restricted travel memos.

While there is no indication that Bolton intentionally sought to sell or leak state secrets, prosecutors contend that his use of unsecured email and failure to safeguard classified material rendered him criminally negligent. Under federal law, mishandling national defense information does not require intent to harm the United States — mere reckless exposure can be sufficient to trigger felony charges.

As first detailed in The New York Post, the investigation into Bolton began after intelligence agencies discovered that his long-defunct AOL email account — a relic from his pre-government days — had been compromised by what investigators describe as a “foreign threat actor.” That breach, uncovered during a broader cybersecurity review, revealed a trove of communications between Bolton and former colleagues, some of which contained classified attachments or summaries of sensitive national security discussions.

According to the indictment, these communications “were stored in plain view” and “remained accessible for a prolonged period” on Bolton’s personal devices. The exposure, officials fear, may have provided an opportunity for foreign intelligence services to access U.S. secrets.

Court records unsealed last month show that the FBI sought a probable cause warrant after tracing the intrusion to a known overseas hacking group. The affidavit supporting that warrant alleged that Bolton “continued to send, receive, or forward information classified at the Secret and Top Secret levels” while serving in the White House and after his departure.

The New York Post reported that the investigation into Bolton’s conduct dates back several years but was “mysteriously shelved” during the Biden administration — only to be revived this summer after intelligence officials flagged new evidence.

On August 22, federal agents executed coordinated search warrants at Bolton’s Maryland residence and his Washington, D.C. office, seizing both physical and digital materials. During those searches, investigators reportedly retrieved files and handwritten notes referencing WMD proliferation programs, covert diplomatic initiatives, and restricted communication channels used by U.S. envoys.

The discovery prompted a sweeping review by the Department of Justice’s National Security Division. In court documents cited by The Post, prosecutors expressed concern that Bolton’s actions “posed an unacceptable risk to U.S. intelligence assets and diplomatic personnel abroad.”

The indictment also alleges that Bolton failed to take reasonable precautions to secure his electronic devices, including neglecting to install anti-malware or intrusion-detection software that could have alerted him to hacking attempts. The search warrants instructed agents to look specifically for “programs designed to enable remote access by unauthorized users,” though it remains unclear whether any were found.

To those familiar with Bolton’s career, the irony is glaring. Few American officials have been more outspoken about the dangers of information leaks and espionage than John Bolton. As a senior State Department official under President George W. Bush, he routinely warned that “the smallest lapse in safeguarding classified material can endanger American lives.”

During his tenure as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (2005–2006), Bolton chastised member states for their lax security protocols and once declared that “those who mishandle secrets have no place in positions of public trust.”

Now, according to the report in The New York Post, the onetime hardliner finds himself on the receiving end of precisely those accusations.

The indictment does not accuse Bolton of deliberately leaking information to the press or foreign governments. However, legal analysts told The Post that the scope of the charges — spanning nearly two dozen separate violations — indicates the Justice Department sees a pattern of disregard for protocol rather than an isolated lapse.

“This is not a paperwork issue,” one former Justice Department official told the paper. “This is a serious national security breach by someone who absolutely knew better.”

The case against Bolton also has deep political undertones. Once a key architect of Trump’s national security policy, Bolton became one of the former president’s fiercest critics after his dismissal in September 2019. His tell-all memoir, “The Room Where It Happened” enraged Trump and White House officials, who accused him of publishing classified material — an allegation Bolton denied.

At the time, the Trump administration unsuccessfully sought a court injunction to block publication. While Thursday’s indictment does not directly reference that episode, sources told The New York Post that investigators reviewed drafts of Bolton’s manuscript during the course of their probe.

So far, neither Trump nor his legal team has commented publicly on the indictment. But several of the former president’s allies have privately described the charges as “poetic justice.” One senior Republican operative told The Post, “For years Bolton portrayed himself as the moral conscience of foreign policy. Now he’s accused of doing exactly what he condemned others for doing.”

In a brief statement issued through his attorney late Thursday, Bolton denied all wrongdoing and vowed to “vigorously contest these baseless charges.” His defense team argued that the materials cited in the indictment were “unclassified working drafts or routine diplomatic correspondence” and accused prosecutors of pursuing “a politically motivated case designed to silence a critic of both the Trump and Biden administrations.”

Bolton’s legal team is expected to challenge the admissibility of the emails and documents seized from his accounts, arguing that the government’s search warrants were overly broad. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice declined to comment on whether any plea discussions had taken place.

If convicted, Bolton could face a maximum sentence of 10 years per count, though sentencing guidelines would likely result in a significantly shorter term. Still, the implications for a man long seen as a pillar of national security credibility are devastating.

As The New York Post report observed, Bolton’s indictment marks a humiliating fall for a man who once stood at the pinnacle of Washington’s strategic establishment. A Yale-educated lawyer and intellectual heavyweight of the conservative movement, he served under four Republican presidents and influenced U.S. policy on some of the most consequential issues of the modern era — from Iraq to Iran to North Korea.

Now, facing the prospect of spending the remainder of his life under the shadow of federal prosecution, Bolton joins a small but notorious circle of high-ranking officials accused of mishandling the nation’s most sensitive secrets.

Whether he is ultimately convicted or cleared, one thing is certain: the John Bolton who lectured the world on the sanctity of classified information may never again command the moral authority he once wielded.

As The New York Post concluded, “For a man who built his legacy on the doctrine of deterrence, the gravest consequences he now faces may be of his own making.”