Who is John Bolton? Trump's critic indicted for allegedly transmitting and retaining classified info

John Bolton

John Bolton, once Donald Trump’s national security adviser and a fierce opponent since leaving the White House, has been indicted by a federal grand jury after what officials described as a lengthy probe into his handling of classified materials. FBI agents had previously searched both his Maryland residence and his Washington workspace as part of the investigation.

The 76-year-old veteran diplomat was charged by a federal grand jury in Maryland with 18 counts of transmitting and retaining classified information, AFP reported.

Bolton, well known for his tough stance on Iran and for receiving threats from Tehran, infuriated Trump after releasing his memoir 'The Room Where it Happened', a scathing account of his time in the administration. Since then, Bolton has regularly appeared in media to denounce Trump, repeatedly branding him, in his own words, “unfit to be president.”

Speaking to reporters about Bolton’s indictment, Trump didn't hold back,  calling his former adviser a “bad person", at the White House.

The indictment of Bolton is the latest in a series of criminal cases brought in recent weeks by the Trump Justice Department against prominent critics of the president. Just days earlier, New York Attorney General Letitia James, 66, was charged by a Virginia grand jury with bank fraud and making false statements related to a 2020 property purchase in Norfolk. She dismissed the prosecution as “baseless” and said it amounted to “political retribution” by Trump, who she had previously taken to court in a high-profile civil fraud case.

Former FBI director James Comey, 64, was also charged earlier this month, pleading not guilty to accusations of obstructing a congressional proceeding and making false statements to Congress. His attorney has vowed to try to have the case dismissed, describing it as a “vindictive and selective prosecution.”

Although Trump did not mention Bolton by name, he recently publicly urged Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue legal action against Comey, James and other political adversaries. After returning to office in January, Trump has repeatedly targeted those he sees as disloyal, removing officials, cutting university funding and leaning on law firms that had clashed with him in earlier legal battles.

It was Trump’s own chosen U.S. attorney, Lindsey Halligan, who filed the charges against James and Comey after the previous prosecutor resigned, saying there was insufficient evidence. Comey had been appointed to lead the FBI in 2013 by then-president Barack Obama, but Trump fired him in 2017 amid the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Bolton, now 76, had his security detail withdrawn soon after Trump assumed office. His legal troubles come after a long spell of strained relations with the president, who has repeatedly attacked his former adviser in public.

With AFP inputs