Former Trump advisor John Bolton agrees to plead guilty to retaining classified information, MS NOW reports

Former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton leaves federal court after pleading not guilty to charges of mishandling classified material on Oct. 17, 2025 in Greenbelt, Maryland. Bolton was indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday. Alex Kent | Getty Images John Bolton , who previously served as national security advisor to President Donald Trump , has agreed to plead guilty to retaining classified information in a private diary, MS NOW reported Thursday. Bolton, who is a strong critic of Trump, faces a sentence of up to 60 months in jail and a fine of $2.25 million as part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors on the single count, according to MS NOW. The only people who were exposed to the secret information were his wife and daughter, according to a source cited by the outlet.