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Individuals #1 and #2: The Mystery Connection

The government confirms only that both are related to Bolton. However, lines within the indictment suggest the pair served as editors or early reviewers of Bolton’s 2020 memoir The Room Where It Happened. One message references a publisher’s “right of first refusal,” implying that drafts and correspondence flowed directly from these diary files into the book process.

If proven, that connection could make the indictment’s unnamed recipients unindicted co-conspirators—especially if they assisted with manuscript preparation before the National Security Council’s pre-publication review.

The “Cloak & Dagger” Remark

In one encrypted chat dated July 2018, Individual 1 teased, “More to come with cloak and dagger … so he says.”
Prosecutors cite this as evidence Bolton and his confidants knew the sensitivity of their correspondence and concealed it. In espionage vernacular, “cloak and dagger” symbolizes covert intrigue—a phrase now likely to become emblematic of the government’s claim that Bolton’s conduct was deliberate, not accidental.

Why the “Personal Notes” Defense May Fail

Bolton is expected to argue that his notes were personal reflections, not government property. But legal experts point out that under Executive Order 13526 and Title 18 §793, information is classified based on content and origin, not ownership of the paper it’s written on.

That means once Bolton memorialized intelligence briefings or covert actions—even in shorthand—they became government records protected by law. His nondisclosure agreements, which he signed multiple times, explicitly barred him from “ever divulging classified information without prior written authorization.”

As a result, the “my notes are personal” argument is almost certain to collapse under scrutiny.

Bolton’s Own Words Come Back to Haunt Him

The indictment’s most devastating section recites Bolton’s past media interviews condemning others for the same conduct.

In 2017 he said:

“If I had done at the State Department what [a senior official] did, I’d be imprisoned right now.”

In 2025, months before his own indictment, he told a reporter:

“You simply don’t use commercial means of communication… there’s no excuse for it.”

Those statements are likely to appear in prosecutors’ closing argument to show willfulness and knowledge of wrongdoing.

What’s Next

• Arrest: Bolten is expected to be arrested by federal agents, booked, fingerprinted and mugshot taken; Legal analyst expect him to receive the full proverbial “Perk-Walk.”
• Initial Appearance: Expected within days in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland before a federal magistrate judge appointed by Obama.

🛑 In re United States of America v. John Robert Bolton, II, In The United States District Court for The District of Maryland; Criminal No. TDCDSCR314; Filed Oct. 16, 202

© 2025 Samuel A. Lopez | USA Herald
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