John R. Bolton, a national security adviser to President Trump in his first term, has reached a tentative deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to mishandling classified information when he compiled notes for a book that was harshly critical of the president, according to two people familiar with the matter.
A notice in Maryland federal court, where Mr. Bolton was indicted last year, indicates he is now scheduled for a re-arraignment — a hearing that can signal a planned guilty plea. The hearing is set for June 26.
Under the terms of the plea deal, which still requires approval from a judge, Mr. Bolton plans to plead guilty to a single count of illegal retention of classified information and pay a fine, facing anywhere from no prison time to five years of incarceration when he is sentenced, according to the people familiar with the negotiations, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss them. If Mr. Bolton had gone to trial and lost, he could have faced decades in prison.
The plea would provide President Trump perhaps his most significant victory in his campaign to prosecute his perceived enemies, which so far has largely foundered once cases hit the courts.
But the case against Mr. Bolton, who has emerged as a persistent critic of Mr. Trump since leaving the administration in 2019, was always different from others that Mr. Trump has pushed the Justice Department to prosecute. The investigation into him was also pursued and gained momentum under the Biden administration, when U.S. intelligence agencies gathered what former officials have described as troubling evidence.
A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment.
The original 18-count indictment against Mr. Bolton accused him of using personal email and a messaging app to share more than 1,000 pages of notes, which included national defense information, with two family members who did not have security clearances.
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