The Justice Department is expected to present a possible criminal case and seek a grand jury indictment against former national security adviser John Bolton as soon as Thursday afternoon at a federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
In August, the FBI searched Bolton’s home and office as part of an investigation into his handling of classified documents, sources told CBS News at the time. According to unsealed court papers, agents found records marked classified during the searches. The FBI said it found numerous confidential documents in Bolton’s home and office, and the bureau took phones, hard drives and computers as part of the search, the court filings show.
Bolton served as national security adviser during Mr. Trump’s first term, but he departed from the role after 17 months amid disagreements about Middle East policy. Mr. Trump said he asked Bolton for his resignation, but Bolton said he offered his resignation.
He then wrote a book about his tenure in the Trump White House — “The Room Where It Happened” — that portrayed the president in an unflattering light. The first Trump administration tried to stop the publication of the book and later sued him for the profits, arguing it contained classified information. The Justice Department opened a criminal inquiry into whether Bolton had published classified information, claiming he had failed to complete a prepublication review.
Bolton has denied any wrongdoing. The Biden administration later closed the investigation into him and dropped the lawsuit.
