Former National Security Advisor to US President Donald Trump John Bolton, who became a prominent Trump critic, will soon be indicted on federal charges, NBC News reports, citing sources.
Officials said the charges will be filed by the Attorney General’s Office in Maryland, where Bolton resides.
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to discuss the grand jury’s work.
“By law, we do not discuss grand jury matters with the media, but the Department of Justice is a unified team dedicated to our mission to make America safe,” the spokeswoman said. “The Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, and the entire Justice Department team continue to strengthen the ability of our American lawyers to bring justice to every case.”
In August, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided Bolton’s Maryland home and his Washington, D.C., office. A source familiar with the situation told NBC News that the searches were part of a “national security investigation into classified documents.”
Bolton’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, has repeatedly stated that the classified documents in Bolton’s possession date back to the George W. Bush administration, when Bolton served as U.S. ambassador to the UN.
According to the source, Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe provided FBI Director Kesh Patel with the intelligence that formed the basis for the search warrant.
Bolton was one of Trump’s national security advisers during his first term. The source said the searches at the time were related to Bolton’s handling of classified materials and the possible leaking of such documents to the media. They added that this was related to a criminal investigation launched under the Biden administration. Search warrants issued last month allege potential violations of the Espionage Act, including the unauthorized collection or transmission of national defense information and the unauthorized storage of classified materials.