Passing on confidential information: Trump critic Bolton pleads guilty

The guilty plea is therefore part of an agreement with the public prosecutor’s office, which includes, among other things, a prison sentence of a maximum of five years. The court still has to approve the agreement. The 77-year-old is accused of passing on classified information and unlawfully storing top-secret documents in his home during his time as Trump’s national security adviser.

Bolton was Trump’s national security adviser for a time during his first term in office (2017-2021). The long-time diplomat, who is considered a foreign policy hardliner, resigned after around a year and a half in office in a dispute with Trump.

He then became one of his harshest critics: in 2020, Bolton published a tell-all book in which he painted a damning picture of Trump. The Trump administration tried in vain to stop the publication.