John Bolton, whose time in President Donald Trump's first administration was marked by frequent disagreements over foreign policy, is accused of sharing classified information and keeping 1,000 pages of top-secret documents at his Maryland home.
Authorities contend some of the sensitive material was exposed when operatives believed to be linked to the Iranian government hacked the email account Bolton used to send "diary-like" notes about his activities to his relatives.
Following his departure from the White House, the Trump administration also tried to block the release of Bolton's highly critical memoir because it contained classified information.
J. Christian Adams, founder of the Public Interest Legal Foundation, agrees with those who believe that Bolton caught a bad case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.
"I can't believe he had all this top-secret information in his house. What a dope," he comments. "He was taking stuff out and keeping it in his house – stuff that's labeled top secret and documents related to attacks and missile capabilities. What was he thinking? I'm staggered by it."
Bolton pleaded not guilty to the 18-count indictment on Friday, but Adams thinks he could be in serious trouble.
"The indictment was in Greenbelt, Maryland," the former Justice Department attorney acknowledges. "It's one of the most liberal states in the country, but … that district of Maryland extends virtually up to the Pennsylvania border; there's plenty of sensible people in Maryland. I don't think just because it's Maryland means they're not going to get a conviction."
Legally, he believes Bolton is in "extreme peril."
Bolton, however, claims he is "the latest target in weaponizing the Justice Department to charge those [President Trump] deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts."
