(NEXSTAR) – A former top advisor to President Trump pleaded not guilty in a Maryland court Friday to mishandling classified information.
John Bolton faces charges of keeping top secret records at his home and emailing his family classified information. He was indicted this week for actions after he left the White House during the president’s first term.
He left the federal courthouse without talking to reporters but has previously said he thinks this is an effort by the president to “intimidate his opponents.”
Bolton served as President Trump’s national security adviser in his first term before being fired in 2019. He then wrote a tell-all book highly critical of the president.
President Trump commented on the indictment Thursday.
“I think he’s, you know, a bad person. I think he’s a bad guy. Yeah, he’s a bad guy. Too bad but that’s the way it goes,” the president said.
Bolton’s case comes as the Justice Department pursues cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
But this case is different from those against Comey and James. The inquiry into Bolton started under President Joe Biden.
The case garnered attention in August when FBI agents searched Bolton’s home. He’s specifically accused of sharing more than a thousand pages of notes with sensitive information with his wife and daughter.
The indictment suggests some of that material was exposed when operatives believed to be linked to Iran’s government hacked Bolton’s email.
