Ex-Trump adviser John Bolton pleads guilty to mishandling classified documents

Speaking to reporters after the hearing, US Attorney Kelly Hayes said Bolton knew how to handle classified information and with whom he could share it."He also knew the damage to national security that could be caused by mishandling that sensitive information," she said. "Nevertheless, as Mr Bolton just admitted, he put our national security at grave risk in violation of the law."In a statement, Bolton's lawyer Abbe Lowell said his client did "what real leaders do". "He took responsibility for a mistake he made, thereby saving the government resources to pursue a case that could expose additional sensitive information," Lowell said. "By contrast, President Trump thumbed his nose at the classified information laws, took actual classified documents to his Florida mansion, interfered with the investigation of that conduct, and has never accepted any accountability for his conduct." Trump was charged in 2023 with illegally retaining classified defence information, but the case was later dismissed after he was re-elected.Bolton was fired from Trump's first administration in 2019. His 2020 memoir, The Room Where It Happened, recounted his time working under Trump, portraying him as a president who was ill-informed about geopolitics.The White House filed a lawsuit to block publication of the book, arguing that it contained classified information and had not been properly vetted. A judge denied the request and the book was released days later.The US Department of Justice then opened an investigation into whether Bolton had mishandled classified information by disclosing parts of it in the book.