Former Trump ally John Bolton pleads guilty in classified information case under plea deal with US Justice Department
Former Donald Trump ally John Bolton has pleaded guilty to mishandling classified information under a plea deal with the US justice department.
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The 77-year-old admitted a single count of illegally retaining classified information during a federal court hearing in Maryland on Friday.
The former national security adviser to Trump had been expected to plead guilty as part of plea deal, which includes a fine of more than $2 million.
The charge relates to diary entries about his work during the US President's first term that he compiled for his memoir, which was deeply critical of his old boss.
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He previously pleaded not guilty during a court hearing in October which contained 18 counts.
However, under the plea deal with the US justice department, Bolton agreed to plead guilty to a single count of retaining the classified information in diary-like entries.
He will be sentenced at a later date.
During Friday's hearing, Bolton said the accusations were accurate.
He replied: "I did your honour," after being asked whether he committed the actions, and added he was "sorry for it".
Speaking afterwards, US Attorney Kelly Hayes said Bolton knew "how to handle classified information", and added: "He also knew the damage to national security that could be caused by mishandling that sensitive information.
"Nevertheless, as Mr Bolton just admitted, he put our national security at grave risk in violation of the law."
Last Augst, FBI agents were pictured raiding Bolton's home as part of a high-profile national security probe, ordered by FBI Director Kash Patel.
He served as national security adviser from 2018 to 2019 but the pair eventually fell out over foreign policy.
Bolton later printed a book titled 'The Room Where it Happened' nosed on Trump's leadership.
The Trump administration fought to block its release but were unsuccessful.