John Bolton pleads guilty to single classified info felony

Former national security adviser John Bolton pleaded guilty on Friday to a single felony count of illegally retaining classified information, concluding a years-long investigation into his mishandling of sensitive national defense materials. The plea was entered during a hearing before Judge Theodore Chuang in federal district court in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Bolton, who served as national security adviser from 2018 to 2019, admitted to one count of unauthorized possession of a document related to national defense. The charge stems from an 18-count indictment filed in October 2025, which accused him of illegally retaining and transmitting classified information. As part of the plea agreement, Bolton faces a maximum prison sentence of five years, a fine of $2.25 million, three years of supervised release, and up to 100 hours of community service. He has also agreed to a required debrief with a U.S. intelligence committee and will forfeit his federal retirement annuity. Half of the fine is due within five days of sentencing.

The case centered on personal notes and diary-like entries Bolton compiled during his White House tenure, which he used to write his 2020 memoir, The Room Where...