John Bolton, the national security hawk and former adviser to Donald Trump who has become one of the US president's biggest critics, pleaded not guilty to charges of mishandling classified information.
Mr Bolton, who was indicted yesterday, is the third of Mr Trump's prominent critics to face prosecution in recent weeks, as the US president dispenses with decades-long norms designed to insulate federal law enforcement from political pressures.
Mr Bolton, wearing a dark blue suit and maroon tie, did not speak with reporters as he arrived at the courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland, to surrender.
"Not guilty, your honor," Mr Bolton, 76, said in court. He was released on his own recognisance and a hearing in the case is scheduled for 21 November.
The indictment alleges that Mr Bolton shared sensitive information with two of his relatives for possible use in a book he was writing, including notes on intelligence briefings and meetings with senior government officials and foreign leaders.
Mr Bolton's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said he did not unlawfully share or store any information.
Charges against perceived adversaries
Mr Trump, a Republican who campaigned for the presidency on avow of retribution after facing a slew of legal woes once his first term in the White House ended in 2021, has actively pressured his attorney general, Pam Bondi, to bring charges against his perceived adversaries.
That included pushing the Justice Department to bring charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, even driving out a prosecutor he deemed to be moving too slowly in doing so.
Mr Bolton served as White House national security adviser during the US president's first term, before emerging as one of Mr Trump's most vocal critics.
Mr Bolton, also a former US ambassador to the United Nations, described Mr Trump as unfit to be president in a memoir he released last year.
The investigation of Mr Bolton was opened in 2022, predating the Trump administration.
Inside the Justice Department, the case is viewed as stronger than the prosecutions of Mr Comey and Ms James, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The indictment of Mr Bolton, filed in federal court in Maryland, charges him with eight counts of transmission of national defense information and ten counts of retention of national defense information, all in violation of the Espionage Act.
Each count is punishable by up to ten years in prison, but any sentence would be determined by a judge based on a range of factors.
In some of the chats described in the indictment, Mr Bolton and his relatives - who are not identified - discussed using some of the material for a book.
Asked by reporters at the White House about the indictment, Mr Trump said: "He's a bad guy."
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