Former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton leaves federal court after pleading not guilty to charges of mishandling classified material on Oct. 17, 2025 in Greenbelt, Maryland. Bolton was indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday. (Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images)

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton pleaded not guilty in Maryland federal court Friday to eight counts of unlawful transmission of national defense information and 10 counts of unlawful retention of national defense information.

He was released from custody on personal recognizance bond, meaning he did not have to post bail but did have to surrender his passport and pledge not to leave the country. 

The next hearing was scheduled for Nov. 21.

In a statement shortly after an indictment against him was returned Thursday, Bolton said the prosecution was engineered by President Donald Trump in retaliation for criticism the longtime national security official had leveled against his one-time boss.

Bolton said the material he used for his 2020 book on his time as Trump’s national security advisor had been cleared for publication, and that he made the FBI aware of a 2021 hack of his private email.

During President Joe Biden’s four years in office, reviews of his case did not result in indictment, he continued. But federal law enforcement during Trump’s second presidency has sought to prosecute individuals opposed to the president, he said.

“These charges are not just about his focus on me or my diaries, but his intensive effort to intimidate his opponents, to ensure that he alone determines what is said about his conduct,” the statement said. “Dissent and disagreement are foundational to America’s constitutional system, and vitally important to our freedom. I look forward to the fight to defend my lawful conduct and to expose his abuse of power.”

Bolton was formally charged Friday with the 18-count indictment that accused him of transcribing handwritten notes containing classified information onto a word processor and sharing the material in the form of “diary” entries with two family members who were not cleared to receive classified information.

Bolton’s is the third indictment federal officials have secured in recent weeks against high-profile Trump critics. 

Former FBI Director James Comey was charged with lying to Congress following a major fallout in a Virginia federal prosecutor’s office that was widely reported to be over career staff refusing to proceed in the case against Comey.

New York Attorney General Leticia James was also indicted for charges related to a mortgage application.

Like Bolton, both Comey and James have proclaimed their innocence and said they were being persecuted as Trump critics.