Grand jury weighs charges against Bolton over classified materials

A federal grand jury convened Wednesday to consider criminal charges against John Bolton, the former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, and Justice Department officials expected an indictment within days. The potential charges stem from an investigation into whether Bolton improperly removed or disclosed classified materials following his White House service, prompting searches of his Maryland home and Washington, D.C., office in August.

FBI agents who executed court-authorized searches seized documents bearing classified, secret and confidential markings, as well as computers, phones, thumb drives and other electronic devices, according to court records unsealed in recent weeks. Unredacted filings indicate some seized materials related to weapons of mass destruction, U.S. military operations and allied air strikes, though the specific contents of those documents have not been publicly disclosed.

The investigation began after publication of Bolton's 2020 memoir but has since broadened. Prosecutors have reviewed intelligence that included foreign surveillance of an email account linked to Bolton, and investigators have examined whether he used private email to...