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Snapshot 5:Fri, Oct 17, 2025 7:38:00 PM GMT last edited by Brian

Former Trump Adviser John Bolton Criminally Indicted

Former Trump Adviser John Bolton Criminally Indicted

Above: Former U.S. national security advisor John Bolton (left) exits a federal courthouse in Maryland on Oct. 17, 2025. Image copyright: Eric Lee/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Spin

Bolton's indictment exposes a grave betrayal. He illegally transmitted over 1,000 pages of top-secret documents via personal email to unauthorized relatives, risking U.S. intelligence on adversaries like Iran. This hawkish insider's recklessness, tied to his anti-Trump book, endangers lives. Accountability prevails — no one is above the law.

Bolton's sham indictment reeks of Trump-era vengeance. The third Trump foe charged in weeks — after James Comey and Lisa James — this Espionage Act farce revives a 2022 probe dropped under Biden. Bolton, a whistleblower on Trump's abuses, faces inflated claims of "diary" sharing amid an Iranian hack. It's authoritarian payback, not justice, silencing dissent.

Metaculus Prediction

There's a 29.9% chance that Pete Hegseth will be the first to leave Donald Trump's cabinet, according to the Metaculus community.


The Controversies




© 2025 Improve the News Foundation. All rights reserved.Version 6.17.0

© 2025 Improve the News Foundation.

All rights reserved.

Version 6.17.0