The ex-Trump official made his initial appearance at the federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Md., hours after jurors handed up the 18-count indictment charging him with unlawfully hoarding and transmitting sensitive national security files.
The indictment stated that Bolton, 76, sent some of the classified documents via a personal AOL email account to unauthorized correspondents while serving under President Trump during his first administration.
More than 1,000 pages of detailed notes allegedly were shared with Bolton’s wife and daughter, neither of whom had security clearances.
Bolton also sent Microsoft Word documents transcribed from handwritten jottings detailing his activities in the White House to his relatives via commercial messaging apps, prosecutors allege.
“From on or about April 9, 2018, through on or about September 15, 2019, on a regular basis, Bolton sent diary-like entries to [his wife and daughter] that contained information classified up to the Top Secret/SCI level,” the indictment read.
That information also included intelligence about US attacks and foreign adversaries, according to prosecutors.
Classified information on Bolton’s email was exposed after hackers linked to the Iranian government accessed the AOL account in July 2021, according to the investigators.
Tehran has targeted the former adviser — as well as President Trump and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — for assassination since the death of high-ranking Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a US drone strike in January 2020.
On Aug. 22, FBI agents raided Bolton’s Bethesda, Md. home and Washington, DC office, with investigators retrieving documents related to weapons of mass destruction, the US mission to the United Nations, strategic government communications and secret travel memos, according to court records.
Bolton faces up to 10 years in prison on each count of the indictment.
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