John R. Bolton, former National Security Advisor to President Trump, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Maryland on Thursday on charges of mishandling classified information. The indictment includes 18 counts, accusing him of sending more than 1,000 pages of "diary" notes to two family members without security clearance through private email and communication software during his tenure as National Security Advisor from 2018 to 2019. These documents contained national defense information designated as "Top Secret." The documents state that these emails were later hacked by hackers linked to the Iranian government, who even threatened to report the leak to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Bolton's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, stated that the facts "were investigated and resolved years ago," saying that Bolton merely kept a personal diary like other public officials, and that the content was non-classified material. Evidence cited in the indictment shows that Bolton knew that some of the content came from sensitive intelligence briefings or White House Situation Room discussions. The case was filed under the Espionage Act. Although it was accelerated after President Trump repeatedly criticized it, the prosecution process was approved routinely by the Department of Justice's National Security Division and the Maryland prosecutor, and is considered different from politically motivated prosecutions against opponents during Trump's administration.
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Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1846207178513547/
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