Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton has agreed to plead guilty to a single count of retaining classified information contained in a private diary entry, two people familiar with the matter told MS NOW.
The plea deal calls for up to 60 months in jail and a $2.25 million fine. It would resolve a massive indictment that threatened Bolton with millions of dollars in legal fees and decades in prison.
Bolton is not admitting to leaking classified information to the media or to a foreign government. The only people who were exposed to the state secrets were his wife and daughter, according to the sources.
News of the guilty plea was first reported by CNN.
The court docket in Bolton’s case contains a notice of a change of plea. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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As laid out by the sources, the resolution of the Bolton case appears to be very similar to what happened with David Patraeus, the former CIA director and retired general who also pleaded guilty in 2015 to a single count of retaining classified information for a diary that was shown to a co-author.
Petraeus pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, however. Bolton is admitting to a felony, according to the sources.
Bolton, who served as President Donald Trump’s national security adviser before becoming an ardent critic of the president, was seen by many as an early target of Trump’s campaign to weaponize the Justice Department against his political enemies.
An arraignment has been set in the case for June 26 in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Ken Dilanian is the justice and intelligence correspondent for MS NOW.
Carol Leonnig is a senior investigative reporter with MS NOW.