Trump’s ex-adviser Bolton pleads not guilty to charges of sharing classified information
The case against the former Trump aide centres on private diary entries with information classified as top secret
John Bolton pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges accusing the former US President Donald Trump national security adviser turned critic of emailing classified information to family members and keeping top secret documents at his Maryland home.
Bolton did not comment to reporters as he entered the courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland, where he made his initial appearance before a judge on the 18-count indictment brought against him on Thursday.
It’s the third criminal case brought in recent weeks by the Justice Department against a Trump adversary, and is unfolding against the backdrop of growing concerns that the Republican president is using the law enforcement agency to seek retribution against his perceived enemies.
“Now, I have become the latest target in weaponising the Justice Department to charge those he deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts,” Bolton said in a statement after a grand jury returned the indictment on Thursday.
Bolton is accused of sharing with his wife and daughter more than 1,000 pages of notes that included sensitive national defence information he had gleaned from meetings with other US government officials and foreign leaders or from intelligence briefings.
Authorities say some of the information was exposed when operatives believed to be linked to the Iranian government hacked Bolton’s email account he used to send the diary-like notes about his activities to his relatives.