Ex-Trump aide John Bolton charged amid crackdown on US president’s critics

byVerified News Online

AdvertisementDonald TrumpWorldUnited States & CanadaEx-Trump aide John Bolton charged amid crackdown on US president’s critics

The former national security adviser has been indicted for allegedly retaining and transmitting national defence information

Reading Time:3 minutesWhy you can trust SCMP

Then US National Security Advisor John Bolton answers journalists’ questions in Minska, Belarus, in August 2019. Photo: AFP

Reuters

John Bolton US President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, was indicted on Thursday on charges of retaining and transmitting national defence information, marking the third time in recent weeks the US Justice Department has secured criminal charges against one of the Republican president’s critics.

Advertisement

Bolton’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. His lawyer had previously denied that Bolton engaged in wrongdoing.

The indictment, according to court records, comes after court documents made public last month revealed that Bolton was under federal investigation for potential mishandling of classified information.

Trump, who campaigned for the presidency on a vow of retribution after facing a slew of legal woes once his first term in the White House ended in 2021, has dispensed with decades-long norms designed to insulate federal law enforcement from political pressures.

In recent months, he has actively pushed Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Justice Department to bring charges against his perceived adversaries, even driving out a prosecutor he deemed to be moving too slowly in doing so.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi listens while US President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the Oval Office on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters
US Attorney General Pam Bondi listens while US President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the Oval Office on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Bolton served as US ambassador to the United Nations as well as White House national security adviser during Trump’s first term before emerging as one of the president’s most vocal critics. He described Trump as unfit to be president in a memoir he released last year.

AdvertisementSelect VoiceChoose your listening speedGet through articles 2x faster1.25×250 WPMSlowAverageFast1.25x

Related Posts

US warship docks in Trinidad and Tobago, putting more pressure on Venezuela

AdvertisementAmericas and the CaribbeanWorldAmericasUS warship docks in Trinidad and Tobago, putting more pressure on VenezuelaThe visit comes a week after the US embassy in Trinidad and Tobago warned Americans to stay away from US government facilities there
Reading Time:2 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPAssociated PressPublished: 7:02am, 27 Oct 2025A US warship docked in Trinidad and Tobago’s capital on Sunday as the Trump administration boosts military pressure on neighbouring Venezuela and its President Nicolas Maduro.
AdvertisementThe arrival of the USS Gravely, a guided missile destroyer, in the capital of the Caribbean nation is in addition to the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford, which is moving closer to Venezuela.Maduro criticised the movement of the carrier as an attempt by the US government to fabricate “a new eternal war” against his country.
US President Donald Trump has accused Maduro, without providing evidence, of being the leader of the organised crime gang Tren de Ara..

In Malaysia’s Johor, silicon dreams meet parched realities

AdvertisementMalaysiaThis Week in AsiaEconomicsIn Malaysia’s Johor, silicon dreams meet parched realitiesAs global tech titans invest billions in data centres to power the AI revolution, the state’s most precious resource is fast evaporating
Reading Time:4 minutesWhy you can trust SCMPUshar DanielePublished: 8:00am, 17 Nov 2025Malaysia’s southern state of Johor is being transformed by a torrent of tech investment.AdvertisementGlobal heavyweights – Microsoft, Nvidia, ByteDance – are pouring billions into vast data centres, the digital foundries that underpin the international AI industry and cloud economy.
For Malaysia’s government, these investments are nothing short of transformative, representing a once-in-a-generation opportunity to vault ahead in Southeast Asia’s technology race.
But for Johor residents like Muhammad Azrien Mohammad Ali, the future arrives with a simple, daily anxiety: will water still flow from the tap?
“This year I have experienced three water disruptions,” the 3..

Pointing gun at Anita Anand’s photo: Canada ministers condemn protest outside Indian consulate, call it ‘vile and unacceptable’

Canada ministers condemned the SFJ protest in which a placard had minister Anita Anand's face merging with that of Indira Gandhi and two turbaned individuals pointing their guns at her. Canadian foreign minister Anita Anand's photo was merged into a photo of former Indian PM Indira Gandhi and two turbaned individuals — part of the placard — were pointing guns at her. Sikhs for Justice protesters outside the Indian consulate in Toronto displayed such a placard, drawing sharp reaction from Canadian ministers.”Targeting a public official with threats or violence undermines our democracy. At a recent protest, there was a deeply disturbing depiction of guns being pointed at a photo of Minister Anand. We condemn these acts of hate unequivocally. There is no place for this in Canada,” Secretary of state for international development Randeep Sarai said.Public safety minister Gary Anandasangaree did not mention Anita Anand's name as he wrote: “A recent protest in Toronto showed..