Timeline: The Case Against John Bolton
DOJ says he prepared to transmit secrets before day one. Years later, his private email was apparently hacked by Iran.
John Bolton launched a plan to document and transmit classified information before he even started his job as President Trump’s national security advisor, according to the federal indictment against him.
Two weeks later, he made his first transmission using the encrypted messaging app to two people, a 25-page document “which described information” that Bolton learned in his first few days on the job, the indictment says. The indictment doesn’t identify those people, but the New York Times reports they were his wife and daughter.
For the next 17 months, Bolton regularly sent “diary-like” entries to them about what he saw and heard that included classified information. From the indictment:
BOLTON wrote many of these diary-like entries by transcribing his handwritten notes from his day’s activities into word processing documents, which he then electronically sent to Individuals 1 and 2 through a commercial non-governmental messaging application. On other occasions, BOLTON used his personal non-governmental email accounts, such as email accounts hosted by AOL and Google, to email information classified up to TOP SECRET/SCI level to Individuals 1 and/or 2 at their personal email accounts."
Some examples of that classified information, which was also found in his home:
Revelations of a “liaison partner sharing sensitive information with the U.S. intelligence Community
A foreign adversary’s plans for a missile launch and the sources and methods used to gain the intelligence.
Covert action planned by the U.S. and a covert action that was conducted by the U.S. and another country.
A foreign country’s intelligence describing an adversary’s planned attack on a facility
Why would Bolton do this? To write a book. The indictment includes excerpts of a letter from his agent stating that it was “with enthusiasm” that they were “again exploring a book” with Bolton while he was still National Security Advisor.
About three months after leaving the White House (Trump says he fired him, Bolton says he resigned), Bolton sent a manuscript to the National Security Council for review as required. He was told to remove “significant amounts of highly classified information,” the indictment says.
The book, “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,” was published in June 2020. The indictment says none of the classified information cited in the indictment was included in the book.
Bolton pleaded not guilty on Friday, a day after his indictment. His attorney, Abbe Lowell, said the accusations were previously resolved.
Like many public officials throughout history, Amb. Bolton kept diaries — that is not a crime. We look forward to proving once again that Amb. Bolton did not unlawfully share or store any information.”
Lowell is also the attorney for New York Attorney General Letitia James, who was indicted this month on charges of mortgage fraud. He was also Hunter Biden’s defense attorney and is representing Fed Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.
Here’s a short video compilation of some of Bolton’s statements in which he criticized others for their handling of classified material. Some of the comments in the video were referenced in the indictment.
Below is a timeline of events leading up to the indictment.
June 16, 2020
The first Trump administration sues Bolton to stop the June 23 release of his book, arguing that he is violating non-disclosure agreements and that he abandoned an ongoing government review of the manuscript. That review resulted in revisions, but the administration, as of June 11, contended that the latest version it was reviewing still had classified information (as noted above, the Justice Department says none of the classified information cited in the indictment was disclosed in the book).
A federal judge ruled against the administration because so many copies were already distributed, but expressed concern that the book was published before the government’s review cleared it.
June 21, 2020
In an interview with ABC News, Bolton says the book would have been 500 pages longer if it contained classified information, and that he wrote the book to “reveal a picture of the president that people can draw their own conclusions from.”
My conclusion is clear. I don’t think he should be president. But I didn’t wanna write a book that was argumentation or that was being an amateur psychoanalyst or coming up with pigeon holes or categories or put the president in.
I wanted people to see him as he operated. Now, there’re people who say that somehow, this is a breach of trust. I don’t see it that way at all. I think there’s an obligation to let the American people know what it’s like in the White House and what their leader is doing. I’m prepared to take the grief that this book will cause because I think the greater loyalty should be to the Constitution and the country.
The video above is a condensed version of the interview. Here’s a PDF of the transcript taken from ABC News’ website:
September 23, 2020
An attorney for the White House staffer in charge of reviewing Bolton’s manuscript writes a letter to the court that says the Trump administration exerted political pressure on her to keep it from being cleared for publication. From the Associated Press:
[Ellen] Knight said that when she advised NSC lawyers on April 28 that she was prepared to clear the manuscript for publication, she was told to take no action. Knight said NSC lawyers told her to tell Bolton that the process was “ongoing.” She says she was once told that COVID-19 issues were delaying the process.
A Trump spokesperson said the letter confirms that Bolton never received the required approval.
June 16, 2021
The Biden administration drops the Justice Department’s lawsuit against Bolton, exactly one year after the Trump administration filed it. The Associated Press reports that the Justice Department also dropped a grand jury investigation.
July 6, 2021
The indictment reveals that Bolton’s emails were hacked. A representative for Bolton notified the FBI and said that it was believed a representative of Iran was responsible.
July 28, 2021
A representative for Bolton informs the FBI that both of them received an email from someone “associated with the hack of Bolton’s account,” according to the indictment. Another message was received on August 5, 2021
January 20, 2025
On his first day in office, Trump signs an executive order that revokes the security clearance of Bolton and 50 other former intelligence officials who signed a letter in 2020 that said Hunter Biden’s laptop “has all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation.”
The executive order singles out Bolton and his book.
National security is also damaged by the publication of classified information. Former National Security Advisor John R. Bolton published a memoir for monetary gain after he was terminated from his White House position in 2019. The book was rife with sensitive information drawn from his time in government. The memoir’s reckless treatment of sensitive information undermined the ability of future presidents to request and obtain candid advice on matters of national security from their staff. Publication also created a grave risk that classified material was publicly exposed.
January 21, 2025
Trump cancels the Secret Service security detail that had been assigned to Bolton since late 2021 when the Justice Department learned that someone from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard tried to hire someone to kill him.
In charging the Revolutionary Guard official (who remains at large), the Justice Department said it believes Bolton was targeted in retaliation for the Trump-ordered killing of Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Qods Force. That occurred in January 2020, nearly four months after Bolton left the White House.
August 22, 2025
The FBI searches Bolton’s home in Bethesda, Md., and his office in Washington, D.C. The search began at about 7:00 a.m. At 7:03, FBI Director Kash Patel posts on X:
Later that day, Trump says he wasn’t told that the searches would take place before calling Bolton a “low-life.”
August 25, 2025
Bolton makes his first comment about the searches in an op-ed in the Washington Examiner. He uses the searches as an analogy to describe Trump’s Ukraine policy:
President Donald Trump’s Ukraine policy is no more coherent today than it was last Friday when his administration executed search warrants against my home and office. Collapsing in confusion, haste, and the absence of any discernible meeting of the minds among Ukraine, Russia, several European countries, and America, Trump’s negotiations may be in their last throes, along with his Nobel Peace Prize campaign.
October 10, 2025
Several media outlets report that Bolton is expected to be charged the following week.
October 16, 2025
Bolton is indicted on 10 counts of unlawful retention of national defense information (NDI) and eight counts of transmission of NDI. In the video above, Trump is informed by a reporter that Bolton was indicted.
“I didn’t know that, you’re telling me for the first time, but I think he’s, you know, a bad person. I think he’s a bad guy. Yeah, he’s a bad guy, it’s too bad, but that’s the way it goes,” Trump says.
October 17, 2025
Bolton pleads not guilty. He makes no comment as he leaves the federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Md.
He was a summer intern for Vice President Spiro Agnew.
He wormed his way deep into power on the Project for a New American Century. Does anyone remember that Project run by Robert Kagan, the spouse of Victoria Newland?
This guy was living in a glass house and he threw a lot of stones.