Posted on 10/17/2025 11:59:27 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Summary
Oct 17 (Reuters) - The indictment of John Bolton on charges of sharing classified information is stronger than the recent charges against two other political foes of President Donald Trump, but the former U.S. national security adviser has several options for mounting a defense, legal experts said.
Bolton, 76, said in a statement on Thursday that he was the latest target in Trump's weaponization of the Justice Department against his enemies. He pleaded not guilty on Friday to 18 counts of transmitting and retaining national defense information.
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Trump, a Republican who campaigned for the presidency on a vow of retribution after facing multiple legal woes following his first term in the White House that ended in 2021, has dispensed with decades-long norms designed to insulate federal law enforcement from political pressures.
The recent indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both of whom investigated Trump, have alarmed some Trump critics who say his use of the criminal justice system to punish enemies resembles the tactics of authoritarian leaders.
But there are key differences between Bolton's indictment and those against Comey and James.
The investigation of Bolton, who served as Trump's national security adviser in 2018 and 2019 but has since become an outspoken Trump critic, began in 2022, predating the current Trump administration.
The charges were brought by experienced prosecutors in the Maryland U.S. Attorney's office and the Justice Department. Both Comey and James were charged by Lindsey Halligan, a newly-installed...
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Hilarious Rooters NOW claims the DOJ has been weaponize. Oh but it wasn’t before - right you freaking lying sacks of crap? LOL!
Hang him high
That’s total BS.
Anyone who gets a clearance is briefed, in writing and verbally, that you cannot, among many things, keep diaries, write books etc., without authorization, which nearly never happens. Bolton can’t claim ignorance, even if that was a defense, which it’s not.
Seeing the way Bolton acted and ran his mouth - even on live TV - he thought he was special and couldn’t be touched.
He has a bad case of ‘laws for thee, but not for me!”
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