Former National Security Advisor John Bolton compared the Trump administration to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin’s secret police following the former national security adviser’s indictment on Thursday.
“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,” Bolton said in a statement.
“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.'”
Federal prosecutors say that Bolton sent more than a thousand pages of “diary-like entries” to two relatives and retained documents, writings and notes related to national defense. Those two individuals were Bolton’s wife and daughter, according to The Associated Press.
Bolton has claimed the charges are part of Trump’s retribution campaign against him, which ramped up after the publication of his memoir “The Room Where It Happened.”
The first Trump administration tried to block the publication of the book, which Trump officials claimed had classified information within its pages. The Department of Justice during the Biden administration decided against bringing charges.
Thursday’s indictment also accuses Bolton of failing to notify the FBI that his email account stored classified and national defense information after it was hacked in 2021, allegedly by Iran.
Bolton said the FBI was “fully aware” of when his email was hacked in his response to the charges on Thursday, arguing the case was about more than his feud with Trump.
“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,” Bolton said.
“Dissent and disagreement are foundational to America’s constitutional system, and vitally important to our freedom,” Bolton said. “I look forward to the fight to defend my lawful conduct and to expose his abuse of power.”
Following the FBI’s raid of Bolton’s home and office in August, Trump said of his former adviser, “He’s not a smart guy. But he could be a very unpatriotic guy. We’re going to find out.”
Prosecutors said that some of the sensitive information stored and transmitted by Bolton was classified as top secret. And legal experts say the case against Bolton appears stronger than cases brought against other Trump foes in recent weeks.
“At no point did Bolton have authorization to store or transmit the classified information that he sent to Individuals 1 and 2 via his personal electronic devices and accounts,” the charging documents read. “Nor did, at any time, individuals 1 and 2 have authorization to know or store the classified information that Bolton gave to them.”
