To put it mildly, Donald Trump and John Bolton have not been on good terms since the former national security adviser’s tenure in the White House ended. For example, Bolton, after having served at the president’s side for a year and a half, warned the public that Trump is “unfit to be president.” The Republican responded with an endless stream of insults and complaints about his former aide.
At one point, Trump even published an item to social media that read in part, “Bolton … likes dropping bombs on people, and killing them. Now he will have bombs dropped on him!”
One such “bomb” detonated on Thursday afternoon. MSNBC reported that Bolton was indicted by a federal grand jury in Maryland. From the article:
The 26-page indictment charges Bolton with 18 counts related to the retention and transmission of national defense information. … The search warrant affidavits, which authorized federal agents to search for classified records, mentioned two sections of the Espionage Act, as well as a statute dealing with the retention or removal of classified information. They also referenced a hack of Bolton’s AOL account by a foreign entity, but the details in that section of the document were redacted.
John Bolton said in a statement that he was being prosecuted for criticizing Trump and characterized himself as “the latest target in weaponizing the Justice Department.” Federal prosecutors, he added, were using “charges that were declined before or distort the facts” to punish Trump’s enemies. He called the case an “abuse of power” by the Republican administration, which he compared to Stalinist Russia.
The charges weren’t altogether surprising. Over the last several weeks, Trump has breathed new life into his yearslong offensive against Bolton, calling him a “fired loser” and a “really dumb” person. Days earlier, the president added that Bolton was “stupid” and accused him standing in the way of the peace process in Ukraine.
But Trump’s campaign wasn’t limited to juvenile name-calling and online insults. In January, he canceled Bolton’s Secret Service protection detail, which Joe Biden had approved after the FBI discovered evidence of an Iranian assassination plot. Around the same time, the Republican also revoked Bolton’s security clearance. In August, Trump’s FBI raided Bolton’s home and office.
Two months later, the former White House national security adviser was indicted.
It’s important to emphasize that while another name has been ticked on Trump’s enemies list now, there is a qualitative difference between the federal case against Bolton and the recent charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. The Comey and James cases are obvious examples of the system being corrupted and weaponized to pursue the president’s political enemies.
In pursuing Bolton, however, the Justice Department followed a normal process; there was no pushback from career prosecutors; no officials were fired or felt the need to resign; and the indictment actually included credible evidence of alleged wrongdoing.
What a pleasant change of pace in the Trump era.
That said, as The New York Times noted, “While the Bolton indictment contains an expansive evidentiary explanation, it remains unclear if the offenses outlined would have warranted an indictment — much less fast-tracked charges — if Trump had not publicly singled out Bolton for punishment.”
In other words, although prosecutors managed to assemble evidence against Bolton, that doesn’t mean the case has been free of political motivations.
What’s more, as Bolton prepares for a court appearance, this seems like a good time to revisit what’s become of those on FBI Director Kash Patel’s enemies list, which first appeared in his book “Government Gangsters” and was filled with those he deemed as members of the “deep state.”In alphabetical order:
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Former President Joe Biden is, at Trump’s insistence, facing a federal investigation.
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Former White House National Security Adviser John Bolton has been indicted.
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Former CIA Director John Brennan is facing a criminal investigation. (Brennan is a paid contributor to MSNBC, my employer.)
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Former Department of Homeland Security official Miles Taylor is, at Trump’s insistence, facing a federal investigation.
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Former FBI Director Chris Wray isn’t officially facing a federal investigation, but Trump recently said he “would think” that Justice Department officials are pursuing him.
And while there are plenty of people on Patel’s enemies list who aren’t currently facing law enforcement scrutiny, there’s no reason to assume there won’t be additional developments in the coming weeks, months and years. Watch this space.
This post updates our related earlier coverage.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
