John Bolton—once President Donald Trump’s national security adviser and now one of his fiercest critics—has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Maryland, according to CNN. Bolton, who’s expected to turn himself in as early as Friday, is just the latest in a string of criminal cases involving figures who’ve crossed paths with Trump and landed in his political crosshairs. The FBI raided Bolton’s home and Washington-based office two months ago, seizing several folders labeled “confidential” and documents that reportedly referenced weapons of mass destruction, according to Politico.  John Bolton It’s still unclear whether the charges prosecutors are pursuing stem directly from what agents found. CNN also reports that Bolton allegedly shared highly classified information with his wife and daughter over email. Bolton, a former U.N. ambassador and longtime foreign policy hawk, has been one of Trump’s most outspoken detractors since leaving the administration. He called Trump unfit for office in his tell-all memoir and routinely blasted his handling of global affairs—making him a favorite target of the president’s wrath. Trump didn’t wait long to respond to the raid, calling Bolton a “sleazebag” and comparing the search to his own Mar-a-Lago ordeal. “It’s not a good feeling,” Trump told reporters. But his animosity toward Bolton isn’t new. Back in 2020, Trump told Fox News, “I believe that he’s a criminal, and I believe, frankly, he should go to jail” for allegedly mishandling classified information. Bolton’s legal team has rejected those claims. Attorney Abbe Lowell has said that Bolton committed no wrongdoing and that the seized materials were “ordinary records” for a former official to have. The timing of this case is hard to ignore, as it comes just weeks after the Justice Department brought charges against two other high-profile Trump foes: former FBI Director James Comey, who once ran the investigation into Trump’s 2016 campaign, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who went after the Trump Organization in a civil fraud case. Both have denied any wrongdoing, and critics argue that the wave of indictments points to a broader campaign of retribution. Former FBI Director James Comey According to ABC News, Bolton’s case is being run out of the U.S. attorney’s office in Maryland—unlike the Comey and James cases, which a Trump-appointed prosecutor is leading in Virginia. Reuters has also reported that some career prosecutors initially resisted moving forward, saying that more investigation was needed, but senior DOJ officials ultimately pressed ahead. The political stakes are obvious. Trump built his comeback campaign around punishing his perceived enemies, often leaning on the DOJ to act. Earlier this year, he even removed a federal prosecutor who he thought wasn’t acting fast enough against his opponents. Bolton, meanwhile, has already paid a price for speaking out. In January, Trump stripped him of his security clearance and Secret Service protection—a move widely seen as retaliation. The indictment is almost guaranteed to spark a fierce fight over whether the DOJ is upholding the law or caving to political pressure.  And for Bolton, it marks yet another collision course with the president he once served—a reminder of just how personal Trump’s pursuit of his critics has become. Read more