Former Trump adviser John Bolton pleads not guilty to leaking secrets

In a court appearance on Friday, former national security adviser John Bolton rejected federal prosecutors’ claims that he leaked classified information. Bolton was released from custody after pleading not guilty to 18 counts of illegally storing or sharing classified information. The Department of Justice accused Bolton, 76, of sharing sensitive information with family members and storing top-secret documents at his Maryland home. A Thursday indictment alleged that Bolton shared diary-like notes about his work with his wife and daughter. It also claimed he did not alert the government when his email was hacked by an Iran-linked operative.

Bolton’s case marks the third federal case brought against political adversaries of President Donald Trump in recent weeks. Former FBI Director James Comey pleaded not guilty last week to federal allegations that he lied to Congress and obstructed a congressional proceeding. New York Attorney General Letitia James was also federally indicted on bank fraud charges last week.

Didn’t Bolton previously serve in the Bush and Trump administrations? He was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush, and he served as national security adviser in the first Trump administration. A longtime Republican known as a foreign policy hawk, Bolton left his White House role in late 2019 after falling out with President Trump. In 2020 he released a memoir about his time in the administration that was sharply critical of the president. At the time, the Trump administration accused him of including classified information in the manuscript. 

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report for more about Bolton’s indictment.