Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton to Plead Guilty to Holding Classified Documents

(Central News Agency, Washington, comprehensive foreign news on the 4th) US media reported today that former US National Security Advisor John Bolton intends to plead guilty to a charge of holding classified documents. Bolton served as National Security Advisor during the first Trump administration but later publicly criticized Trump.

Agence France-Presse, citing US media including CNN, indicated that the 77-year-old veteran diplomat is expected to plead guilty when he appears in the Maryland federal district court on the 26th.

After Donald Trump returned to the White House, several of his political opponents faced criminal charges, and Bolton is one of them. He was charged last October with 18 counts of transmitting and holding top-secret national defense information.

CNN reported that Bolton will plead guilty to a felony charge of illegally holding sensitive national security information, which carries a maximum sentence of 60 months in prison and a fine of over $2 million (approximately NT$63 million).

Bolton is accused of sharing classified documents via email with two "unauthorized individuals," whose identities have not been publicly disclosed but are believed to be his wife and daughter.

According to the Department of Justice, the documents "revealed intelligence about future attack operations, foreign adversaries, and foreign policy relationships."

Bolton served as Trump's National Security Advisor from April 2018 to September 2019. He later published a highly critical memoir, "The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir," which angered the Trump administration.

Bolton frequently appeared on television news programs and in newspapers to harshly criticize Trump, whom he considered unfit for the presidency. Trump also repeatedly attacked his former aide and, shortly after returning to the White House last January, revoked Bolton's security detail. (Editor: Yang Zhaoyan) 1150605