Ex-Trump adviser John Bolton pleads not guilty to classified documents charges

(GREENBELT, Md.) — Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton has pleaded not guilty to all 18 counts of an indictment charging him with unlawful retention and dissemination of national defense information.

Bolton entered his not guilty plea Friday morning in a hearing in federal court in Maryland before Chief Magistrate Judge Timothy Sullivan. 

He was indicted by a grand jury Thursday on charges that he allegedly unlawfully transmitted and retained classified documents. 

The indictment comes on the heels of the indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James as President Donald Trump continues what critics call a campaign of retribution against his perceived political foes.

Unlike at Comey’s arraignment, Bolton’s attorney Abbe Lowell on Friday did not offer much in the way of any preview of his defense strategy for the charges Bolton is facing. 

Judge Sullivan set a Nov. 14 deadline for pretrial motions to be filed in the case, and also set a scheduling conference for Nov. 21. 

Bolton appeared at ease throughout the hearing, and responded to the judge’s standard questions asking him if he understood the nature of the charges against him and the potential penalties he could face if he is convicted. 

He was released on recognizance with regular release conditions, and will have to surrender his passport to his legal counsel, and is prohibited from traveling outside of the U.S. unless he gets pre-approval from the court. 

Bolton is charged with eight counts of unlawful transmission of national defense information as well as 10 counts of unlawful retention of national defense information.

Seven of the transmissions allegedly occurred during the time when Bolton was serving at Trump’s national security adviser in 2018 and 2019, while another document was allegedly sent by Bolton just days after President Donald Trump removed him from the administration in September of 2019.  

The indictment accuses Bolton of abusing his position as national security adviser by sharing “more than a thousand pages” of information in “diary-like entries” about his day-to-day activities with two recipients identified only as “Individual 1” and “Individual 2,” who prosecutors say are Bolton’s relatives.  

Sources told ABC News that the relatives referred to in the indictment as ‘Individual 1’ and ‘Individual 2’ are Bolton’s wife and daughter. 

Bolton has been a target of Trump’s ire since leaving Trump’s first administration and publishing a tell-all book. Federal agents in August searched Bolton’s Maryland residence and Washington, D.C., office, related to allegations that Bolton possessed classified information. 

The investigation is being run out of the U.S. attorney’s office in Maryland, unlike the Comey and James probes which are being conducted by the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, who sources say brought the Comey and James charges against the advice of career prosecutors.

Comey, who was indicted on charges of lying to Congress, and James, who is charged with mortgage fraud, have both denied wrongdoing.