Former national security adviser John Bolton has reached a plea deal in his classified information case, agreeing to plead guilty to one felony count of illegal retention of sensitive national security information, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Bolton, who served in President Donald Trump’s first administration and has since become a prominent Trump critic, agreed to pay a $2.25 million fine as part of the agreement announced June 4. A hearing to formally enter the plea was scheduled for June 26 in federal court in Maryland.
The plea deal resolves a criminal case filed in October 2025, when Bolton was indicted on a total of 18 counts—eight counts of transmitting national defense information and 10 counts of retaining it. Prosecutors alleged that from April 2018 to August 2025, Bolton shared more than 1,000 pages of classified information with two unauthorized relatives, according to reporting by CNN.
Bolton’s guilty plea won’t include charges related to the transmission allegations. Instead, it covers only the retention of sensitive information he documented in electronic diary entries from his time as national security adviser. The materials contained highly classified information about his day-to-day activities in the Trump White House, according to CNN.
A conviction on the single count carries a potential sentence of zero to 60 months in prison. By agreeing to the substantial fine, Bolton could avoid prison time—an outcome that’s not always available in classified information cases. In 2023, a retired Air Force officer was sentenced to three years in prison for storing classified information at home, and a former FBI analyst received a nearly four-year sentence for similar conduct, according to CNN’s reporting.
The investigation into Bolton began after his personal email was breached by suspected Iranian hackers. The FBI then discovered “diary-like entries” containing top secret information from his national security role. An FBI search of his Maryland home in summer 2025 found documents marked as classified, according to court records previously released.
Bolton was originally charged months after initially pleading not guilty in October 2025. Career prosecutors and investigators maintained support for the case throughout, distinguishing it from other cases involving Trump’s perceived adversaries, according to CNN.
Sources
- CNN — plea deal details, guilty plea terms, fine amount, sentence range, comparison to other classified information cases, investigation background
- Reuters — plea deal confirmation, guilty plea to one count, diary entries basis for charges
- PBS NewsHour — plea deal resolving 18-count indictment
- BBC — guilty plea terms, fine amount, original indictment details
- Washington Post — plea deal and fine agreement
- NBC News — diary entry details shared with family members
