John Bolton, the former ambassador and national security adviser who pleaded not guilty on Friday to charges of emailing classified information to family members and keeping top secret documents at his Maryland home, released a statement on the indictment.
On the record, October 16, 2025
STATEMENT OF AMBASSADOR JOHN R. BOLTON
For four decades, I have devoted my life to America's foreign policy and national security. I would never compromise those goals. I tried to do that during my tenure in the first Trump Administration but resigned when it became impossible to do so.
Donald Trump's retribution against me began then, continued when he tried unsuccessfully to block the publication of my book, "The Room Where It Happened," before the 2020 election, and became one of his rallying cries in his re-election campaign.
Now, I have become the latest target in weaponizing the Justice Department to charge those he deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts.
My book was reviewed and approved by the appropriate, experienced career clearance officials. When my e-mail was hacked in 2021, the FBI was made fully aware.
In four years of the prior administration, after these reviews, no charges were ever filed. Then came Trump 2 who embodies what Joseph Stalin's head of secret police once said, "You show me the man, and I'll show you the crime."
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.
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.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.