Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton was charged Thursday in a federal investigation into the potential mishandling of classified information.<\/p>\n
GREENBELT, Md. (AP) \u2014 Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton<\/a> was charged Thursday in a federal investigation into the potential mishandling of classified information, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n The investigation into Bolton, who served for more than a year in President Donald Trump\u2019s first administration before being fired in 2019<\/a>, burst into public view in August when the FBI searched<\/a> his home in Maryland and his office in Washington for classified records he may have held onto from his years in government.<\/p>\n The existence of the indictment was confirmed to the AP by a person familiar with the matter who could not publicly discuss the charges and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n Agents during the August search seized multiple documents labeled \u201cclassified,\u201d \u201cconfidential\u201d and \u201csecret\u201d from Bolton\u2019s office, according to previously unsealed court filings. Some of the seized records appeared to concern weapons of mass destruction, national \u201cstrategic communication\u201d and the U.S. mission to the United Nations, the filings stated.<\/p>\n The indictment sets the stage for a closely watched court case centering on a longtime fixture in Republican foreign policy circles who became known for his hawkish views on American power and who after leaving Trump\u2019s first government emerged as a prominent and vocal critic of the president. Though the investigation that produced the indictment began before Trump\u2019s second term, the case will unfold against the backdrop of broader concerns that his Justice Department is being weaponized<\/a> to go after his political adversaries.<\/p>\n It follows separate indictments over the last month accusing former FBI Director James Comey<\/a> of lying to Congress and New York Attorney General Letitia James<\/a> of committing bank fraud and making a false statement, charges they both deny. Both of those cases were filed in federal court in Virginia by a prosecutor Trump hastily installed in the position after growing frustrated that investigations into high-profile enemies had not resulted in prosecution.<\/p>\n The Bolton case, by contrast, was filed in Maryland by a U.S. attorney who before being elevated to the job had been a career prosecutor in the office.<\/p>\n