Former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton indicted, surrenders to authorities

By Jerry McConway, 
updated on October 17, 2025

When former National Security Advisor (NSA) John Bolton’s most recent book came out, there were a lot of questions about his possible mishandling of classified information.

This, as I am sure you recall, was a charge that Donald Trump himself faced after removing records from the White House and moving them to Mar-a-Lago after his first term ended.

As has been the case with the other recent indictments announced by the Trump DOJ, the media and Democrats are saying that this week's charges against Bolton are akin to a revenge prosecution, not even considering the possibility that he may have actually broken the law.

Indicted

Once again, a Trump enemy has been indicted, and once again, the charges came down from a grand jury, this time in the form of 18 counts of improper handling of classified documents.

The indictment listed eight counts of transmission of National Defense Information and ten counts of retention of National Defense information, according to a Fox News report.

The indictment read, "From on or about April 9, 2018, through at least on or about August 22, 2025, BOLTON abused his position as National Security Advisor by sharing more than a thousand pages of information about his day-to-day activities as the National Security Advisor -- including information relating to the national defense which was classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level -- with two unauthorized individuals, namely Individuals 1 and 2.”

It continued, "BOLTON also unlawfully retained documents, writings, and notes relating to the national defense, including information classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level, in his home in Montgomery County, Maryland."

Bolton surrenders

Bolton reportedly turned himself in early Friday morning to federal authorities.

The former NSA was seen leaving his Maryland home and heading to the courthouse in Greenbelt to surrender.

From earlier reports, the unnamed individuals in the indictment were likely his agent and publisher, or someone along those lines, who were given access to Bolton’s book and documents before the former official received approval from the government regarding the contents of the book.

But again, I cannot stress this enough… this is a federal charge, so prosecutors had to show probable cause to the grand jury in order to secure the indictment. This is not just some random case thrown together as a way to exact revenge for Trump.

Bolton goes off

Bolton pushed the same tired narrative as former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James in the wake of his indictment.

He reacted to the charges by stating, “I have become the latest target in weaponizing the Justice Department to charge those he deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts.”

Bolton continued, “Then came Trump 2 who embodies what Joseph Stalin’s head of secret police once said, ‘You show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime.'”

The media has already bitten on this narrative, again, not even entertaining the idea that Bolton could have possibly committed a crime. The grand jury sure seems to think he did, so how about we let the facts dictate the narrative?

About Jerry McConway

Jerry McConway is the Senior Editorial Director at American Digest Media, as well as the featured columnist on Real Talk Digest. He has been covering politics for more than a decade. His no-nonsense writing style makes him enemy number one in DC. His mission is to tell the truth to readers, good or bad, something the mainstream media has failed to do for decades. What sets Jerry apart from his competition is reader loyalty. They don't always agree with him, but they know he tells them the truth. Love him or hate him, you can't ignore him.

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