"John Bolton, the former national security adviser to Donald Trump in his first term, pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges he shared diary-like notes that contained top secret information with relatives and stored classified documents at his home. Bolton did not comment to reporters as he walked into the courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland, where he surrendered to authorities and made an initial appearance before US magistrate judge Timothy Sullivan on the 18-count indictment filed against him."
"Now, I have become the latest target in weaponizing the justice department to charge those he deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts, Bolton said in a statement. But even though Bolton departed as national security adviser on bitter terms with Trump, the indictment was filed by career prosecutors in the US attorney's office in Maryland and described how Bolton sent notes about his day-to-day activities over personal email accounts."
"The indictment also laid out how Bolton's email accounts were hacked by a foreign state actor believed to be Iran that gained access to the notes after he left government service, and how Bolton later printed the notes and kept them with classified-marked documents in his home. The justice department pursues Espionage Act cases in the event of so-called aggregating factors: willful mishandling of classified information, vast quantities of classified information to support an inference of misconduct, disloyalty to the US and obstruction."
John Bolton pleaded not guilty to an 18-count indictment alleging he shared diary-like notes containing top secret information with relatives and stored classified documents at his home. He surrendered at the Greenbelt, Maryland courthouse and made an initial appearance before US magistrate judge Timothy Sullivan. His lawyer portrayed the matter as punishment tied to notes for a 2020 memoir. The indictment, filed by career prosecutors in Maryland, describes Bolton sending notes over personal email accounts that were later accessed by a foreign state actor believed to be Iran. Bolton printed and kept the notes with classified-marked documents at home, and the Justice Department cited Espionage Act aggregating factors including willful mishandling, large quantities of classified information, disloyalty, and obstruction.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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