Posted on 06/26/2026 10:52:30 AM PDT by RandFan
John Bolton, a former national security adviser to Donald Trump, has pleaded guilty to mishandling classified security information as part of notes he compiled for a book.
Bolton, now a prominent critic of the US president, was indicted on 18 counts related to improper handling of classified material, and initially pleaded not guilty.
On Friday, he admitted to a single charge of illegal retention of classified information. The documents he retained included diary entries containing national defence information, some of it classified at the top secret level.
Bolton faces a prison sentence of up to five years and has agreed to pay $2.25m (£1.7m) in fine, prosecutors said.
Bolton will also debrief national security officials on the classified information he illegally retained as well as perform 100 hours of community service, the BBC's US partner CBS News reported.
After the judge read the allegations against Bolton in court on Friday, including about sending diary entries with sensitive information to his family members, Bolton said the accusations were accurate.
"I did your honor," Bolton said about whether he committed the actions at hand today. He added he was "sorry for it."
He is set to be sentenced on 28 October, US media report.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
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It's where he and so many others like him belong of course.
Ironically, the man who told us Saddam Hussein was a threat to the US national security (among others) has himself been deemed a threat to US national security.
This irony wont be lost on many. Hopefully Sen. Rand Paul makes a statement.
He could be going to prison but I doubt it. He’s part of the club. He’s getting the Sandy Berger treatment. Community service and a fine for intentionally stealing classified documents by stuffing them down his pants and walking out with them. Only Trump would get sent to prison for mishandling or keeping classified documents because of “special circumstances.”
Lots of shower time with slippery soap.....
Yes. True. Still a fall from grace for the lying liar.
Do to him what he wanted the Biden DOJ to do to Trump. Seems fair.
The Neoconservative’s believe lying to advance their agenda is fine.
...which will consist of Bolton trashing the Trump administration on CNN.
If this is the best deal his high-priced lawyer could get, then he clearly screwed himself, but good.
The publicly available charging documents and reporting indicate that Bolton was alleged to have sent the material to two close family members (identified by sources as his wife and daughter), via personal email, and then quickly took a plea to a single retention count that did not require litigating those transmission allegations at trial.
Strip anything he earns from his book that used this info also.
He SHOULD be going to prison
AND his mustache too
“On Friday, he admitted to a single charge of illegal retention of classified information.”
The fix is already in.
If prison was a possibility, no way would he plead guilty. He has to know the punishment already.
That’s what I recall he was charged with. I guess we’ll have to wait and see what he is sentenced to in order to know whether he got off easy or not. My guess would be that he pays a fine but no jail time, and as you point out, this keeps his family members out of a trial.
Like Baretta said, “if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime”. Maybe “or have a good laywer who can get you a sweet plea deal” should be added.
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