Bolton expected to be criminally charged next week

President Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser John Bolton is reportedly about to be indicted on criminal charges, according to a new report citing sources close to the matter. MSNBC reports that an indictment against John Bolton could arrive as early as next week. Two people close to the situation, speaking anonymously to the broadcaster, said that a grand jury in Maryland has been hearing evidence for several weeks relating to claims that Bolton kept classified national security information at his home. The sources said the pace of the case against Bolton has sped up recently.

Bolton’s potential indictment would make him the third of Trump’s enemies to face criminal charges in just a matter of weeks. Both former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James have also been indicted on criminal charges. Trump fired Bolton during his first administration and Bolton has been a vocal critic of Trump’s leadership ever since. The sources told MSNBC that prosecutors in Virginia and New York are hesitant to bring cases against Comey and James, respectively, but prosecutors in Maryland reportedly believe the charges being brought against Bolton may actually be based in fact.

Acting U.S. Attorney for Maryland Kelly Hayes has told her colleagues that she believes there is enough evidence to justify charging Bolton, the sources reportedly said. Bolton’s home in Bethesda, Maryland, was raided by the FBI on August 22. Agents were executing a search warrant at his home in an attempt to locate classified records. The warrant was reportedly provided by the CIA and approved by a federal judge, according to MSNBC.

FBI Director Kash Patel celebrated the raid on social media at the time. “NO ONE is above the law... @FBI agents on mission,” Patel wrote on X. Bolton’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, has maintained that his client is innocent of all allegations made against him. He has repeatedly said that all of the classified documents Bolton had in his possession were from the George W. Bush administration - during which he served as a U.S. ambassador to the United Nations - and said those documents are typical of those that would be retained by a longtime government employee.

“An objective and thorough review will show nothing inappropriate was stored or kept by Ambassador Bolton,” Lowell said in September. A heavily redacted version of the probable cause affidavit used by the FBI to justify the raid at Bolton’s home was unsealed in September. A page titled “Hack of Bolton’s AOL Account by Foreign Entity” is completely blacked out, but the sources speaking to MSNBC claim to have information about its contents.

According to the insiders, the page details how the US government found Bolton’s AOL emails during an intelligence collection operation directed at a foreign government. The specific government is not named or was not provided by the sources. The discovery of Bolton’s emails in the hands of a foreign government reportedly kicked off an investigation into whether or not the former ambassador had mishandled classified information. The indictments against Comey and James — and soon, reportedly, Bolton — have come down just weeks after Trump posted what appeared to be a private message to Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding she speed up prosecution of his political enemies. Senior Republicans were blindsided by the message and believed it was intended to be private.

“What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Letitia???” Trump wrote in the post. “They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.” Trump continued, saying, “We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility,” and concluded with, “They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”

Trump later deleted the message and his staff acted as though it was intended for public view the entire time. According to a Wall Street Journal report citing unnamed sources, Trump was surprised to learn he’d posted the message to his Truth Social account, then said “Oh,” and shrugged the mistake off. Two of the three people mentioned — Comey and James — have been indicted. It is unclear if or when an indictment will come down for Senator Adam Schiff. Both Comey and James have investigated Trump in the past. Comey led an investigation into Trump’s first presidential campaign’s alleged ties to Russia, and James investigated the Trump Foundation and sued it for fraud, alleging it was inflating the values of its properties and minimising its debts to dupe potential investors.