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President Donald Trump said Thursday he was unaware that former national security adviser John Bolton had already been indicted, but called the onetime U.S. ambassador to the United Nations a “bad guy.”
A federal grand jury in Greenbelt, Maryland, earlier in the day indicted Bolton on 18 counts, including eight for transmission of national defense information and 10 for retention of national defense information.
Prosecutors allege that while serving as Trump’s national security adviser, Bolton shared “more than a thousand pages of information about his day-to-day activities” with two unauthorized individuals.
Trump, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office after unveiling plans to expand access to in vitro fertilization, was asked for his reaction.
“John Bolton was just indicted by a grand jury in Maryland. Do you have a reaction to that?” a reporter asked.
“I didn’t know that; you are telling me for the first time,” President Trump said. “But I think he’s, you know, a bad person.
“I think he’s a bad guy, yeah. He’s a bad guy. It’s too bad, but that’s the way it goes. That’s the way it goes, right? That’s the way it goes,” he said.
Trump was then asked whether he had reviewed the case.
“No, I haven’t, I haven’t,” he said. “But I just think he’s a bad person.”
Bolton has been a vocal critic of Trump since being fired in 2019. Speculation about an indictment grew after a grand jury convened on Wednesday.
The grand jury action followed FBI raids in August at Bolton’s home in suburban Maryland and his Washington, D.C., office, where agents searched for evidence tied to the alleged theft of highly sensitive national security information.
Bolton is expected to surrender on Friday at the federal court in Greenbelt. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang, an appointee of former President Barack Obama.
Bolton’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, has reportedly said his client “did not unlawfully share or store any information.”