Former National Security Advisor John Bolton to plead guilty to retaining classified information: sources

Former White House national security advisor John Bolton will plead guilty to retaining classified information, two sources confirmed to Fox News Digital on Thursday.

Authorities raided Bolton’s home and office in August of last year, and he was officially indicted in October. That indictment charged Bolton with both transmission and retention of classified information.

He is now expected to accept a plea deal with federal authorities to plead guilty to a single count of retention of classified information. He faces 60 months in jail and a fine of up to $2.25 million.

“From on or about April 9, 2018, through at least on or about August 22, 2025, BOLTON abused his position as National Security Advisor by sharing more than a thousand pages of information about his day-to-day activities as the National Security Advisor—including information relating to the national defense which was classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level—with two unauthorized individuals,” the indictment read.

JOHN BOLTON’S HOME AND OFFICE RAIDED BY FEDERAL AGENTS

“BOLTON also unlawfully retained documents, writings, and notes relating to the national defense, including information classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level, in his home in Montgomery County, Maryland,” it continued.

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The documents, according to the indictment, revealed intelligence about future attacks by an adversarial group in another country; a liaison partner sharing sensitive information with the U.S. intelligence community; intelligence that a foreign adversary was planning a missile launch in the future, and a litany of other “TOP SECRET” information.

“The FBI’s investigation revealed that John Bolton allegedly transmitted top secret information using personal online accounts and retained said documents in his house in direct violation of federal law,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in October. 

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“The case was based on meticulous work from dedicated career professionals at the FBI who followed the facts without fear or favor. Weaponization of justice will not be tolerated, and this FBI will stop at nothing to bring to justice anyone who threatens our national security,” he added.

Bolton served as Trump’s White House national security advisor during his first administration, from 2018 to 2019.

A source familiar with the early stages of the investigation told Fox News Digital that CIA Director John Ratcliffe provided Patel with limited access to U.S. intelligence that served as the basis for the search warrant. The source told Fox News Digital that the evidence justified the raid on Bolton’s home.

Fox News’ David Spunt contributed to this report.