John Bolton, US President Donald Trump's former national security advisor, was charged on Thursday in a sweeping indictment that accuses him of sharing sensitive government information with two of his relatives for possible use in a book he was writing.

The indictment marked the third time in recent weeks the Justice Department has secured criminal charges against one of Trump's critics.

The indictment says the notes Bolton shared with his two relatives in electronic messages included information he gleaned from meetings with senior government officials, discussions with foreign leaders, and intelligence briefings.

In some of the chats, Bolton and his relatives – whom the indictment does not identify – discussed using some of the material for a book. Bolton referred to the two people with whom he shared his daily notes as his "editors," the indictment said.

"Talking with [book publisher] because they have a right of first refusal!" Bolton wrote in one message, according to the indictment.

The two relatives referred to in the indictment are Bolton's wife and daughter, two people familiar with the matter said.

In a statement, Bolton said, "I look forward to the fight to defend my lawful conduct and to expose his abuse of power."

Bolton's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said Bolton did not unlawfully share or store any information.

Trump, a Republican who campaigned for the presidency on a vow of retribution after facing a slew of legal woes once his first term in the White House ended in 2021, has dispensed with decades-long norms designed to insulate federal law enforcement from political pressures.

In recent months, he has actively pushed Attorney General Pam Bondi's Justice Department to bring charges against his perceived adversaries including former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, even driving out a prosecutor he deemed to be moving too slowly in doing so.

The investigation of Bolton was opened in 2022, predating the Trump administration.

Inside the Justice Department, the case is viewed as stronger than the prosecutions of Comey and James, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The indictment of Bolton, filed in federal court in Maryland, charges him with eight counts of transmission of national defense information and 10 counts of retention of national defense information, all in violation of the Espionage Act.

Each count is punishable by up to 10 years in prison if Bolton is convicted, but any sentence would be determined by a judge based on a range of factors.

Asked by reporters at the White House about the Bolton indictment on Thursday, Trump said: "He's a bad guy."

Bolton served as White House national security advisor during Trump's first term before emerging as one of the president's most vocal critics. Bolton, also a former US ambassador to the United Nations, described Trump as unfit to be president in a memoir he released last year.

In the indictment, prosecutors said Bolton shared more than a thousand pages of information about his day-to-day activities as national security advisor, including top-secret information, with the two unauthorised people from April 2018 to August 2025.

The indictment said a "cyber actor" tied to the Iranian government hacked Bolton's personal email after he left government service and accessed classified information.

Prosecutors said a representative for Bolton told the government about the hack but did not report that he stored classified information in the email account. (Reuters)