John Bolton, the former national security adviser to Donald Trump, pleaded guilty today to unauthorised retention and disclosure of classified information, sources confirm. The plea, entered in a Washington D.C.
federal court, stems from Bolton's 2020 memoir 'The Room Where It Happened', which contained sensitive intelligence that prosecutors say endangered US national security. But the reverberations are being felt across the Atlantic. UK intelligence analysts are alarmed, according to internal memos seen by this newspaper.
British spy agencies had shared highly sensitive raw intelligence with Bolton during his tenure, including details on Russian election interference and North Korean nuclear capabilities. The guilty plea now threatens to expose those sources and methods. 'Bolton's carelessness has cost us,' a senior GCHQ official told me, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to talk to the press.
'We're looking at damage assessments. This is a nightmare.' The plea deal, negotiated behind closed doors, sees Bolton avoid a prison sentence in exchange for cooperation with ongoing investigations.
But for the UK intelligence community, the damage may already be done. Documents unsealed today show Bolton repeatedly ignored warnings from the White House counsel's office that his manuscript contained classified material. 'He knew the rules.
He chose to break them,' said a Justice Department lawyer who worked the case. The Bolton saga is a stark reminder of how the Trump administration's chaos has lingering consequences for America's closest allies. UK intelligence officials now face the grim task of rebuilding trust with their US counterparts, and re-evaluating what intelligence they share with future US administrations.
Bolton, who once famously said 'I've written a book and I'm going to tell the truth,' now stands convicted of putting his own ego above national security.
