Overview
- Multiple outlets reported on Thursday that Bolton will plead guilty to a single felony count of illegal retention of sensitive national‑security documents as part of a plea deal.
- The original October 2025 indictment charged Bolton with 18 counts — eight transmission counts and 10 retention counts — over diary‑style notes from his time as national security adviser.
- Prosecutors allege Bolton shared more than 1,000 pages of diary‑like entries through personal accounts with two unauthorized people identified by reporting as his wife and daughter.
- Court records show a rearraignment is scheduled for June 26 in federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, and the single‑count plea carries a sentencing range of zero to 60 months but leaves final punishment to the judge.
- Reporting notes the probe began before 2021, was revived after a suspected email hack, was handled by career prosecutors, and the case will be watched as a reference point for other classified‑materials prosecutions.