John Bolton pleads guilty in classified-information case tied to memoir notes

John Bolton pleaded guilty Friday in Greenbelt, Maryland, to one count of illegally retaining classified information, sharply narrowing the 18-count indictment filed in the District of Maryland on Oct. 16, 2025. The plea agreement calls for a maximum sentence of five years and a $2.25 million fine, and Bolton is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 28 before U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang.

The case centered on records from Bolton’s time as Donald Trump’s national security adviser, including diary-like notes he kept after leaving the White House and later shared with family members while preparing his memoir, The Room Where It Happened. He used personal email and messaging accounts to transmit sensitive national-defense information, some classified as high as Top Secret. Bolton’s agreement allows him to withdraw his plea if Chuang imposes a prison term above five years or a fine higher than $2.25 million.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi said, “There is one tier of justice for all Americans,” while FBI Director Kash Patel said Bolton had transmitted top secret information through personal online accounts and kept documents in his house. FBI agents searched Bolton’s Maryland home and Washington office in August 2025, and the investigation began before Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.

Special counsel Jack Smith dropped Trump’s prosecution after Trump was reelected, and the Justice Department later moved to end the appeal involving Trump’s co-defendants, closing out the federal classified-documents case without a guilty plea. In 2020, Bolton had negotiated a book deal worth about $2 million within two months of leaving government.