John Bolton, the former national security adviser turned outspoken critic of President Trump, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of illegally retaining national defense information, PBS NewsHour reported. The plea resolves a case that began with an 18-count federal indictment.

One count of 18

Bolton was indicted last October on 18 counts of unlawfully transmitting and retaining national defense information. Under the plea agreement, he admitted guilt on a single retention count, and the government is expected to drop the rest at sentencing. He entered the plea before U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang in Maryland; sentencing is set for October 28.

The charge carries a statutory maximum of 10 years, but under the agreement prosecutors will not seek more than five years, according to NPR and CNN. Bolton also agreed to pay a $2.25 million fine — half of it within five days of sentencing — and to forgo federal retirement benefits tied to his government service. Judge Chuang retains discretion over the final sentence.

What the case involved

The charges stemmed from an FBI search of Bolton's Maryland home and Washington office in 2025. Prosecutors said he had kept and shared more than a thousand pages of diary-style notes from his time as national security adviser, some classified at the highest levels, and that material had been sent to family members through a personal email account — an account the government said was later compromised by a foreign actor.

In court, the prosecution emphasized that the rules on handling classified information apply regardless of rank or length of service. Bolton's attorney, Abbe Lowell, framed the plea as an act of responsibility, saying his client chose to resolve the matter rather than prolong a case that could expose additional sensitive information.

A long-running feud

Bolton served as national security adviser from April 2018 to September 2019, leaving on acrimonious terms. His 2020 memoir, The Room Where It Happened, offered a critical account of Trump's conduct in office and deepened a public rift between the two men that has persisted for years.

The plea brings a quiet end to a prosecution that legal observers had watched closely, both for its national-security stakes and for the political backdrop of a case against a prominent critic of the president. Sentencing in October will determine what penalty Bolton ultimately faces.