'Not the typical case': John Bolton has a slow road to trial ahead

The classified information at the heart of the case is too sensitive for just any facility, prosecutors say.

John Bolton at his Oct. 17 arraignment. (Photo by Alex Kent/Getty Images)

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GREENBELT, Md. — Donald Trump’s former National Security Advisor John Bolton has a slow road to trial ahead.

Though a trial date hasn’t been set, a federal judge scheduled a status conference for October 2026.

Bolton stands accused of sending “diary”-like entries from his notes during Trump’s first term to his wife and daughter via unsecured emails and text messages. Prosecutors say that the notes included information that was classified up to the Top Secret level, and Bolton’s email account was compromised by Iranian government hackers.

As Bolton’s lawyer Abbe Lowell said in court, this “is not the typical” Espionage Act case where the defendant stands accused of unlawfully retaining documents with classified markings. The indictment charges Bolton with retaining and transmitting diary entries that allegedly contained national defense information.

During a hearing lasting a little more than an hour, Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Sullivan suggested that the 10 diary entries at the heart of the case are of such a sensitive nature that the typical classified storage facility isn’t secure enough to review them.

“This isn’t information that can be stored in any SCIF,” Sullivan said, using the acronym for a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility for reviewing classified documents.

He said that a temporary SCIF is being built for the defense to review the documents in Washington, D.C., before one is made available within the District of Maryland.

For much of the hearing, U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang sharply questioned the need for a seven-month delay to complete classified discovery.

“I’m still having trouble why we need seven months for this,” Chuang told the government. “Help me out.”

The hearing revealed more about the universe of documents at issue.

Prosecutors say that 10 diary-like entries are at the “heart” of the case, which are being reviewed by the U.S. intelligence community. The government established a filter team to determine whether some of the documents are subject to attorney-client privilege.

Those 10 diary entries fall within a total universe of 65 documents being reviewed through this process, prosecutors say.

Bolton’s legal team agreed to the government’s proposed schedule. Lowell explained in court that the filter team must sift through a “few thousand pages,” and the nature of the case requires a determination of “what line in a private diary is classified.”

Ultimately warming up to the government’s proposal, Judge Chuang laid out an extensive schedule for discovery disclosures and possible motions extending through autumn of next year. Lowell didn’t reveal anything regarding his defense strategy, stating that he would decide what motions to bring depending on what he learns about the charged diary entries and privilege determinations.