Former National Security Adviser John Bolton is expected to plead guilty to a classified documents charge and pay a $2.25 million fine under a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, CNN reported Thursday.
Bolton, 77, is scheduled to appear in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, on June 26. He is expected to plead guilty to a single count of illegal retention of classified information. The charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Reuters reported that the agreement recommends a sentencing range that could include no prison time.
A federal judge will determine Bolton’s final sentence.
Federal prosecutors indicted Bolton in October 2025 on 18 counts related to the alleged retention and transmission of classified information. The charges stem from his time as national security adviser during President Donald Trump’s first administration and his handling of sensitive materials after leaving office.
According to prosecutors, Bolton shared classified government information with two relatives, widely believed to be his wife and daughter, while working on his 2020 memoir, The Room Where It Happened.
Court filings allege that Bolton sent more than 1,000 pages of sensitive material from his personal email account to individuals who lacked the necessary security clearances. Prosecutors also accused him of transmitting classified information to outside contacts during his White House service.
Among the documents cited in the indictment were materials marked “top secret” that allegedly contained details about potential future U.S. military operations.
Prosecutors further alleged that Bolton retained classified documents after leaving government service despite assuring federal authorities that he no longer possessed such materials.
The information sent to his relatives was later exposed after Bolton’s AOL email account was compromised by hackers linked to Iran, according to prosecutors. Bolton has faced ongoing security threats from Iran since the January 2020 U.S. strike that killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani.
Federal agents searched Bolton’s Washington office and Maryland home on Aug. 22, 2025. According to the indictment, investigators recovered documents related to weapons of mass destruction, internal government strategy discussions, secret travel memoranda, and communications concerning the U.S. mission to the United Nations.
Reuters reported that sources familiar with the plea agreement said the deal does not allege wrongdoing related to Bolton’s memoir itself. Instead, it focuses on his retention of classified information contained in diary entries documenting intelligence briefings and meetings with senior U.S. officials and foreign leaders.
The Justice Department unsuccessfully attempted to block publication of The Room Where It Happened during Trump’s first term, arguing that the manuscript contained classified information. The book was ultimately published in 2020.
Bolton served as Trump’s national security adviser from April 2018 until September 2019 before becoming one of the president’s most outspoken Republican critics. After leaving the administration, he sharply criticized Trump in his memoir and questioned his fitness for office.
Reuters reported that the investigation began before Trump returned to the White House in 2025 and was backed by career federal prosecutors.
Representatives for Bolton and the Justice Department declined to comment on the reported plea agreement.