Grand jury expected to indict ex-national security adviser John Bolton for transmitting classified documents: sources

WASHINGTON — A federal grand jury convened Wednesday afternoon to consider charges against former national security adviser John Bolton over his alleged sharing of highly sensitive classified materials on a private email server, The Post has learned.

The proceeding comes two months after FBI agents raided Bolton’s suburban Maryland home and Washington, DC office in search of evidence in the Trump critic’s purported theft of “highly sensitive national security” information.

Justice Department officials expect an indictment to be handed up either Wednesday or Thursday, with one telling The Post the case against the 76-year-old is “air tight.”

Bolton is accused of using his private AOL email account to transmitclassified information and record diary-like notes of his daily activities and assessments throughout his time in President Trump’s first administration, sources told The Post in August.

The account was hacked by an unidentified foreign entity at some point, according to a probable cause warrant unsealed last month — meaning some of the secret information may have ended up in the hands of foreign governments or other bad actors.

The warrant redacted all other information related to the hack.

Investigators also found classified information during their raids, with agents confiscating documents related to weapons of mass destruction, the US mission to the United Nations, government strategic communications and secret travel memos, according to court records.

Even if Bolton had no intention of releasing the information, he could be held liable if sensitive documents were left lying around where others could get to it — a legal provision that applies to his personal email account as well.

Investigators were told to look for software or viruses that would allow an outsider access to Bolton’s electronics — as well as whether the former US ambassador to the United Nations had installed security software to detect malware, according to a search warrant.

It’s unclear whether any such programs were found.

Upon his dismissal by Trump in September 2019 after 17 months as national security adviser, Bolton told officials that he “did not have any notes or other records from his government service,” according to court documents.

The National Security Council began to suspect that was untrue upon receiving a manuscript of Bolton’s 2020 book, “The Room Where it Happened,” which the first Trump administration claimed included classified information.

“As written, the manuscript is very detailed, suggesting that it was likely produced from notes written by your client during his service at the White House,” then-NSC senior director for records, access and information Ellen J. Knight said in a letter to Bolton’s attorneys.

Investigators separately opened an investigation of Bolton’s email activity the same year, only for the probe to be mysteriously “shelved” during the Biden administration — a move one FBI source suspected was politically motivated due to Bolton’s frequent criticism of Trump.

WASHINGTON — A federal grand jury convened Wednesday afternoon to consider charges against former national security adviser John Bolton over his alleged sharing of highly sensitive classified materials on a private email server, The Post has learned.

The proceeding comes two months after FBI agents raided Bolton’s suburban Maryland home and Washington, DC office in search of evidence in the Trump critic’s purported theft of “highly sensitive national security” information.

Justice Department officials expect an indictment to be handed up either Wednesday or Thursday, with one telling The Post the case against the 76-year-old is “air tight.”

Bolton is accused of using his private AOL email account to transmitclassified information and record diary-like notes of his daily activities and assessments throughout his time in President Trump’s first administration, sources told The Post in August.

The account was hacked by an unidentified foreign entity at some point, according to a probable cause warrant unsealed last month — meaning some of the secret information may have ended up in the hands of foreign governments or other bad actors.

The warrant redacted all other information related to the hack.

Investigators also found classified information during their raids, with agents confiscating documents related to weapons of mass destruction, the US mission to the United Nations, government strategic communications and secret travel memos, according to court records.

Even if Bolton had no intention of releasing the information, he could be held liable if sensitive documents were left lying around where others could get to it — a legal provision that applies to his personal email account as well.

Investigators were told to look for software or viruses that would allow an outsider access to Bolton’s electronics — as well as whether the former US ambassador to the United Nations had installed security software to detect malware, according to a search warrant.

It’s unclear whether any such programs were found.

Upon his dismissal by Trump in September 2019 after 17 months as national security adviser, Bolton told officials that he “did not have any notes or other records from his government service,” according to court documents.

The National Security Council began to suspect that was untrue upon receiving a manuscript of Bolton’s 2020 book, “The Room Where it Happened,” which the first Trump administration claimed included classified information.

“As written, the manuscript is very detailed, suggesting that it was likely produced from notes written by your client during his service at the White House,” then-NSC senior director for records, access and information Ellen J. Knight said in a letter to Bolton’s attorneys.

Investigators separately opened an investigation of Bolton’s email activity the same year, only for the probe to be mysteriously “shelved” during the Biden administration — a move one FBI source suspected was politically motivated due to Bolton’s frequent criticism of Trump.