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At one time John Bolton played a useful role in American foreign policy. He was the tough guy willing to say and do what was necessary to advocate for American interests. He was willing to go to the UN and tell them to their faces what a useless pile of rubbish they are. But as time went on, he became nothing but a pompous blowhard who made his pronouncements with great force on television. He joined administrations, took copious notes, and then made millions writing exposés.
After the Mar-a-Lago classified documents raid, Bolton tut-tutted about Trump and his childish carelessness with classified material:
I don't think he cared about the classification system. I don't think he appreciated the sensitivity of this information, and he didn't appreciate the sensitivity of how it was often acquired-the so-called sources and methods. So this had been briefed to him before I arrived. It was repeated frequently. I think it simply had no impact on him whatsoever.
After Bolton was arrested and indicted on eighteen counts of mishandling national defense information in October 2025, he released a statement:
I look forward to the fight to defend my lawful conduct and to expose [Trump's] abuse of power.
Now the word is that Bolton has agreed to plead guilty, pay a $2.5m fine, and may even spend time in prison. According to admission, his conduct was not quite so lawful after all. Seems like all those briefings Bolton endured about handling classified information simply had no impact on him either.
O how the mighty have fallen!
Discussion (14)
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I remember him as the former President of Red Eye.
So it goes.
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I'm currently reading Bolton's book. I didn't think he was a good match for the Trump administration, but as far as I can now tell he's one of the good guys. At one time I thought he was a bit of a warmonger, but my opinion of him has improved, maybe because we've now seen what a real warmonger looks like.
The fact that the DOJ extracted a plea out of him doesn't tell me any more than the usual litany we hear from Trump's critics about how Trump is a felon. I just roll my eyes at that stuff and wait for what happens when the tables are turned.
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I have no doubt that the DoJ went after him because he and Trump were enemies. However, he really was careless in handling national defense information. He took about 1000 pages of classified notes home to write his book in 2019. He e-mailed them to his wife and daughter on his personal e-mail, and told them that the documents were classified. In 2021 the FBI discovered that Iran had hacked his e-mail, but he didn't disclose to them that he had used that account to send classified information, so the government didn't realize what had been exposed.
IF he hadn't been so pompous and condescending about Trump's carelessness with classified material at Mar-a-Lago at the very time he was doing the same thing, I wouldn't have enjoyed his comeuppance nearly so much.
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I'm curious what brought about your improved opinion of him, since my opinion has moved in the opposite direction.
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Having conducted myself in accordance with the sorts of rules Bolton abused, and having worked in some environments where "prestige" was a ticket for some people to blow off the rules, I am happy to see someone held accountable. Well written, thanks.
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