WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's former national security advisor, John Bolton, on Friday pleaded not guilty to charges that he shared classified information with members of his family.
Bolton's indictment comes just a few days after two other indictments of current and former U.S. government officials. New York Attorney General Letitia James has been indicted for alleged mortgage fraud, and former FBI Director James Comey has been indicted for allegedly lying to the U.S. Congress.
Bolton said he has "become the latest target in weaponizing the Justice Department." He has been a vocal critic of Trump since he departed from the administration, describing him as "unfit to be president."
"I look forward to the fight to defend my lawful conduct and to expose his abuse of power," he said.
Bolton's indictment claims he "abused his position as National Security Advisor by sharing more than a thousand pages of information about his day-to-day activities" with two family members.
The indictment said Bolton sent "diary-like entries" to two unnamed family members on an email account that was not set up by the government, "such as email accounts hosted by AOL and Google."
It said those emails included classified material that was allegedly designated to indicate it originated from sensitive intelligence sources.
Abbe Lowell, the attorney who is defending Bolton, denied any wrongdoing on Bolton's part.
"These charges stem from portions of Amb. Bolton's personal diaries over his 45-year career -- records that are unclassified, shared only with his immediate family, and known to the FBI as far back as 2021," according to a statement from Lowell. "Like many public officials throughout history, Amb. Bolton kept diaries -- that is not a crime."
The indictment also said Bolton's email account was hacked by a "cyber actor" sometime between 2019 and 2021.
The indictment alleges that Bolton had informed federal officials about the incident but did not disclose that the hacked email account had been used to share allegedly classified material.
It also accuses Bolton of printing out some documents that contained national defense information and storing them at his home.
Prosecutors said some of this material was stored on Bolton's personal electronic devices, which were used by others in Bolton's home.
The indictment said that electronic files and printouts were found in Bolton's residence and office during an FBI raid in August. Unsealed court documents said law enforcement agents found records that were marked as classified.
The so-called diary entries supposedly included "detailed information that BOLTON learned from meetings with senior members of the U.S. Government, intelligence briefings from members of the intelligence community and military, discussions with foreign leaders and foreign intelligence and military organizations, and intelligence products and reports," according to the indictment.
When asked whether more such indictments should be expected, Christopher Galdieri, a political science professor at Saint Anselm College, told Xinhua: "I would be shocked if we don't see more indictments along these lines ... The real test will be whether any of these survive a motion to dismiss."
The issue originally arose with the Justice Department in Trump's first term. Then the matter was raised again late in Trump's first term and inherited by former President Joe Biden's administration. Under Biden, the Justice Department settled with Bolton.
"That appeared to be the end of it," said Clay Ramsay, a senior researcher at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland.
However, "the elements in the case have been re-dealt, as you would shuffle a pack of cards and lay them out again, and have been arranged as a new indictment," he said.
"None of this is to say that Bolton may not have been careless with classified information," Ramsay said. ■