WASHINGTON — Former U.S. National Security Advisor John R. Bolton II pleaded guilty Friday to violating the Espionage Act, admitting in federal court that he willfully retained national defense information after serving in one of the most sensitive posts in the federal government.
Bolton (pictured at top), 77, of Bethesda, Maryland, served as national security adviser to President Donald Trump from April 2018 to September 2019. The Justice Department said Bolton used personal accounts to send classified information to family members who were not authorized to receive it, including through a personal email account later hacked by a cyber actor allegedly linked to Iran.
The case marked a dramatic fall for Bolton, a longtime Republican foreign-policy hawk who held senior national security roles across multiple administrations and later became a sharp critic of Trump after leaving the White House.
According to federal prosecutors, Bolton created daily “diary” entries during his time as national security adviser and included highly sensitive information he learned through his official duties. DOJ said the documents contained information classified up to the Top Secret level, including Sensitive Compartmented Information, or SCI.
Prosecutors said the information included details about foreign adversaries’ military operation plans, covert U.S. government actions overseas, and intelligence about foreign leaders gathered through clandestine human sources and intercepted communications.
The Justice Department said Bolton sent the documents to two family members using non-government email accounts and a non-government messaging application, neither of which was approved for handling classified information. Prosecutors also said Bolton kept copies at his Bethesda home, where classified materials were not authorized to be stored.
“John Bolton held a position of extraordinary public trust as the country’s top National Security Advisor, and he betrayed that trust, jeopardizing our nation’s security,” said Hayden O’Byrne, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the National Security Division.
U.S. Attorney Kelly O’Hayes for the District of Maryland said Bolton knew the damage mishandling confidential material could cause.
“No one is above the law, and so anyone who endangers our national security will be brought to justice,” O’Hayes said.
The DOJ said Bolton’s personal email account was hacked after he left office in September 2019 by a cyber actor believed to be associated with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Bolton reported the hack to law enforcement, but prosecutors said he did not tell agents or anyone else in the federal government that the account contained national defense information.
A federal grand jury in Maryland indicted Bolton in October 2025 on 18 counts of willfully transmitting and retaining national defense information. Friday’s plea agreement resolves all 18 counts, according to the Justice Department.
Bolton faces a maximum penalty of 60 months in prison. As part of the plea agreement, he also agreed to pay a $2.25 million fine. DOJ said federal law also bars Bolton or his survivors from collecting an annuity or federal retirement pay because of the conviction.
U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang set sentencing for October 28, 2026.
The FBI Baltimore Field Office investigated the case with support from the FBI’s Counterintelligence and Espionage Division, FBI New York Office and FBI Operational Technology Division.