Bolton pleaded not guilty Friday to the 18-count federal indictment that accuses the former Trump administration national security adviser, turned critic of the president, of emailing classified information to family members and keeping top secret documents at his Maryland home, information authorities say could put the country's national security at risk.
Bolton is accused sharing with his wife and daughter more than 1,000 pages of notes that included sensitive national defense information he had gleaned from meetings with other U.S. government officials and foreign leaders or from intelligence briefings. Authorities say some of the information was exposed when operatives believed to be linked to the Iranian government hacked Bolton’s email account he used to send the diary-like notes about his activities to his relatives.
Bolton, 76, is a longtime fixture in Republican foreign policy circles who became known for his hawkish views on American power and who served for more than a year in Trump’s first administration before being fired in 2019.
Sandy Rios is director of governmental affairs at the American Family Association and host of the Sandy Rios 24/7 Podcast.
"Well, there's no doubt that John Bolton should not have taken classified documents. There's no doubt that he should not have written a book where he used classified information. Those things are serious infractions for people who are serving in public office at the highest levels. So, I don't doubt that John will certainly receive some punishment of some sort. Already I think it's probably very difficult for him to be charged with this and be so publicly humiliated because he has a great deal of pride."
But Rios says Bolton caught a major case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.
"John just turned into a person who was so filled with hatred for President Trump that I think he lost his way. But he has done terrible things, I think just because he hates President Trump. I think that's the reason he wrote the book. He did that knowing full well, really, that he was breaking the law with classified information. But it was (done) kind of in-your-face to President Trump, and it's just sad to me."
