BREAKING: John Bolton to plead GUILTY to illegally retaining classified documents from first Trump presidency

John Bolton, who previously served as the national security advisor for President Donald Trump, has agreed to a plea deal in a case where he was accused of retaining classified information in private documents, according to multiple reports.  

A source familiar with the matter told CNN that Bolton has agreed to pay a fine of more than $2 million. He intends to plead guilty to one felony count of illegal retention of sensitive national security documents. A conviction of the count could result in a prison sentence of up to 60 months in prison.

The plea deal comes after the advisor-turned-foe of the president was charged for allegedly keeping classified information in diary entries from the first Trump administration in his home. Prosecutors accused Bolton of sharing “more than a thousand pages of information about his day-to-day activities" with his personal email account.

Bolton was indicted in October for allegedly mishandling the classified documents and was charged with eight counts of transmission of national defense information and 10 counts of retention of national defense information. The alleged transmission of the classified information is not a charge that he has agreed to plead guilty to.

An investigation into Bolton had been underway during the Biden administration, however, that was closed at the time, reportedly due to "political reasons." The investigation had been opened during Trump's first term in relation to the publication of Bolton's 2020 book, "The Room Where It Happened."

Bolton left the White House in 2019 after a series of disputes with Trump and his departure was largely publicized. He went on to publish the 2020 book, which took aim at Trump's tenure as president.