The former national security advisor to President Donald Trump during his first term has agreed to a plea deal over his mishandling of classified documents.
CNN was the first to report that John Bolton has reached a deal to plead guilty to one count of illegal retention of sensitive national security documents. A source said he agreed to pay a fine of more than $2 million.
A notice was filed in federal court in Maryland, where Bolton was indicted. He is scheduled for a re-arraignment, a hearing signaling a plea deal has been reached, The New York Times explained.
A conviction carries a sentence of no time behind bars to up to 60 months in prison, CNN reported.
A judge will determine the sentence, The Associated Press reported.
Boton, who CNN characterized as a “Trump foe,” was accused of keeping diary entries from the first administration in his home.
Prosecutors said Bolton shared “more than a thousand pages of information about his day-to-day activities” with his wife and daughter, who were not authorized to have the documents.
Two investigations into Bolton were opened. The first was during Trump’s presidency in 2020 and closed within a year, while the second came under President Joe Biden’s administration after Bolton’s emails were hit by Iranian hackers. Investigators found “diary-like entries” containing top-secret information.
The notes were sent as he prepared to write his memoir for his time in the government, according to the AP.
The alleged transmission is not expected to be one of the charges he pleads guilty to, CNN reported.
Bolton had been charged with eight counts of transmission of national defense information and 10 counts of retention of national defense information.
A hearing is scheduled for later this month.