John Bolton, a former national security adviser to President Donald Trump who became one of his most vocal critics, has agreed to plead guilty to a single felony count of illegally retaining classified national defence information, according to people familiar with the agreement. Bolton is expected to enter his plea at a re-arraignment hearing on 26 June at a federal court in Maryland. As part of the deal, he will pay a fine of $2.25 million. The agreement still requires judicial approval.
The plea deal, first reported on Thursday, represents a significant resolution to a case that began with FBI raids on Bolton's Maryland home and Washington, D.C., office. Federal prosecutors had originally charged Bolton under the Espionage Act with 18 counts related to the alleged mishandling and sharing of classified information. The central allegation was that Bolton had transmitted more than 1,000 pages of "diary-like entries" — some classified at the top secret level — to two relatives while preparing his 2020 memoir, which offered a scathing account of Trump's first term. He was also accused of withholding full details about a cyberattack on his personal email account that may have exposed classified material. Bolton had pleaded not guilty when first arraigned in October 2025.
The plea deal covers only the charge related to the diary-like entries, and prosecutors are recommending no prison time, though a judge will make the final sentencing decision at a separate hearing. The charge theoretically carries a penalty of up to 60 months in prison. One person familiar with the agreement said Bolton acknowledged what he had done and chose not to contest the case further, in part because a prolonged legal fight could have led to the release of additional classified material in his defence — something he was unwilling to risk.
Bolton's case arrived in the context of a broader wave of federal prosecutions targeting prominent Trump critics. His indictment in October came alongside charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. However, legal experts noted that Bolton's case was distinguished by the weight of evidence gathered by prosecutors, setting it apart from what some described as more politically motivated prosecutions. Bolton served as national security adviser from 2018 to 2019, a tenure marked by frequent clashes with Trump, and his memoir portrayed the president as geographically and politically uninformed. Trump had long called for Bolton's prosecution over the book's contents.
The resolution matters beyond the individual. It tests the boundaries of how former officials handle sensitive government information after leaving office, a recurring challenge in American public life. It also underscores the complex legal landscape of Trump's second term, in which critics have faced criminal charges while supporters argue the administration is pursuing legitimate accountability and opponents say it represents an unprecedented campaign of political retribution.