Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton is in a Maryland court this morning, where he is scheduled to make his first court appearance at 11 a.m. ET after being indicted by a grand jury Thursday on charges of allegedly unlawfully transmitting and retaining classified documents.
Bolton arrived at the federal courthouse before 9 a.m. ET on Friday.
The indictment charges Bolton with eight counts of unlawful transmission of national defense information, as well as 10 counts of unlawful retention of national defense information.
Seven of the transmissions allegedly occurred during Bolton’s time serving as Trump’s national security adviser in 2018 and 2019, while another document was allegedly sent by Bolton just days after President Donald Trump removed him from the administration in September 2019.
The indictment accuses Bolton of abusing his position as national security adviser by sharing “more than a thousand pages” of information in “diary-type entries” about his day-to-day activities with two recipients identified only as “Individual 1” and “Individual 2,” who prosecutors say are relatives of Bolton.
Former White House National Security Advisor John Bolton arrives at the United States District Court for the District of Maryland in Greenbelt, Maryland, on October 17, 2025.
Leah Millis/Reuters
Sources told ABC News that the family members referred to in the indictment as ‘Individual 1’ and ‘Individual 2’ are Bolton’s wife and daughter.
The indictment comes on the heels of indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, as Trump continues what critics call a campaign of retaliation against his perceived political enemies.
Federal agents in August. They searched Bolton’s residence in Maryland and the Washington, D.C., office related to allegations that Bolton possessed classified information.
