The Latest: Indicted ex-Trump adviser John Bolton accused of sharing 1K+ docs on government info

Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton was charged Thursday with 18 counts of retention and transmission of national defense information, according to unsealed court documents.

Bolton is accused of sharing more than 1,000 pages of information about government activities with relatives in diary-like notes. Bolton has denied wrongdoing.

The indictment also alleges that the personal email account Bolton used to share the information was hacked by an entity believed to be associated with Iran.

Bolton served for 17 months as national security adviser during President Donald Trump ’s first term, clashing with him over Iran, Afghanistan and North Korea before being fired in 2019.

Though the investigation that produced the indictment began before Trump’s second term, the case will unfold against the backdrop of broader concerns that Trump’s Justice Department is being weaponized to go after his political adversaries.

The Latest:

Bolton denies wrongdoing and says charges are part of Trump’s ‘effort to intimidate’ opponents

“Now, I have become the latest target in weaponizing the Justice Department to charge those he deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts,” Bolton said in a statement.

Bolton is the third Trump adversary to be prosecuted in the last month.

USC also declines Trump’s higher-education compact

The University of Southern California says it “respectfully declines” to join Trump’s higher-education compact, which would have granted it favorable access to federal funding in exchange for adopting the president’s conservative agenda.

The private Los Angeles university joins the University of Pennsylvania, Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in rejecting the compact.

In a letter to U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon, USC Interim President Beong-Soo Kim said the university was concerned that tying research benefits to the compact “would, over time, undermine the same values of free inquiry and academic excellence that the Compact seeks to promote.”

Kim said other countries that lack “America’s commitment to freedom and democracy” have shown how academic excellence can suffer when tilting the “research playing field away from free, meritocratic competition.”

Trump says he doesn’t know about religious objections to IVF

“I don’t know about the views of that,” he said when asked by a reporter about such objections after his announcement that a drugmaker would reduce the costs related to in vitro fertilization.

“You can’t get more pro-life than this,” he said.

Some religious conservatives oppose IVF or certain aspects of it. Anti-abortion activists are already decrying the announcement.

For decades, the Catholic Church has called IVF immoral because it replaces natural procreation with laboratory procedures and often involves the destruction of surplus embryos, which the church considers human life.

The Southern Baptist Convention lamented the “destruction of embryonic human life” in a 2024 resolution and urged members to carefully weigh IVF’s ethical implications. The resolution echoed a 2024 Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos have the full rights of people.

Jeffries demands Johnson swear in Democrat from Arizona on Friday

Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries is demanding that Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva during a pro forma session scheduled for Friday.

Jeffries noted in a letter he sent to the speaker Thursday that Grijalva’s special election victory has been certified by Arizona, and he asserted that the refusal so far to swear the Democrat in “for partisan advantage undermines the integrity of this institution.”

“In April, Republican Representatives Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine were sworn in during a pro forma session less than 24 hours after their election,” Jeffries wrote. “The decision to seat right-wing Republicans with record speed, while denying a newly elected Democrat the opportunity to serve is an unacceptable disgrace.”

Johnson has insisted he’ll administer the oath of office when the House meets again in a legislative session. He has said that’s generally when swearing-ins take place so new members can enjoy the pomp and circumstance.

Bolton accused of sharing 1K+ pages containing government info and illegally keeping national defense docs at home

The indictment alleges that Bolton abused his position as national security adviser by sharing more than 1,000 pages of information about “his day-to-day activities” in his job with two people who were related to him and who were not authorized to view them.

He also is accused of illegally retaining at his Maryland home “documents, writings, and notes” related to national defense, including information that was classified up to the top secret level, according to the indictment.

Bolton attorney denies wrongdoing

An attorney for Bolton said his client “did not unlawfully share or store any information.”

“These charges stem from portions of Amb. Bolton’s personal diaries over his 45-year career – records that are unclassified, shared only with his immediate family, and known to the FBI as far back as 2021,” attorney Abbe Lowell said in an emailed statement. “Like many public officials throughout history, Amb. Bolton kept diaries – that is not a crime.”

Account Bolton used to share sensitive information was hacked, indictment says

The indictment against the former national security adviser alleges that the personal email account Bolton used to share national defense information with two relatives was hacked by an entity believed to be associated with Iran.

A Bolton representative told the FBI about the hack in July 2021, but Bolton never told the government that he used the hacked account to share sensitive national defense information with his relatives, according to the indictment.

“Nor did he tell the FBI that the hackers now had this information,” the indictment says.

Unions sue Trump administration over social media surveillance

Three labor unions have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its surveillance of visa holders’ social media accounts.

The unions, represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Muslim Advocates and the Media Freedom & Information Access Clinic, filed the lawsuit against the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and others on Thursday.

They are seeking to block a federal program they say is “designed and executed primarily to surveil, intimidate, and silence noncitizens lawfully present in the United States who express views that the government disfavors.”

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York, argues that the government is using the threat of immigration enforcement to suppress dissent, in violation of the First Amendment. It claims the government’s use artificial intelligence allows it to “review and process large volumes of social media and online activity at a scale previously difficult or impossible to analyze with human review alone,” allowing it to continuously surveil of 55 million U.S. visa holders, with the goal of punishing those who express “disfavored” viewpoints.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a message for comment Thursday.

Appeals court won’t stop ban on National Guard in Chicago area

A federal appeals court ruled against the Trump administration and said a lower court’s temporary ban on deploying the National Guard to assist immigration officers in Illinois would stay in place while the government pursues an appeal.

The “spirited, sustained, and occasionally violent actions” of protesters “does not give rise to a danger of rebellion against the government’s authority,” a three-judge panel at the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Thursday.

The Trump administration wanted to deploy Guard troops from Texas and Illinois to the Chicago area. But the strategy was halted on Oct. 9 for at least two weeks by U.S. District Judge April Perry, who found that immigration enforcement has continued despite confrontations with protesters.

Perry said disruptions can be handled by local and state police. The appeals panel said the Guard could be federalized in Illinois but not deployed.

Trump reacts to Bolton indictment

News of the charges broke during the president’s conversation with reporters in the Oval Office. Trump said he hadn’t known about the indictment and then criticized his former national security adviser, who has been an outspoken critic.

“I think he’s a bad person,” Trump said. “He’s a bad guy.”

He added, “That’s the way it goes, right?”

Ex-Trump national security adviser Bolton charged in probe of mishandling of classified information

Former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton was charged Thursday in a federal investigation into the potential mishandling of classified information, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

The investigation into Bolton, who served for more than a year in Trump’s first administration before being fired in 2019, burst into public view in August when the FBI searched his home in Maryland and his office in Washington for classified records he may have held onto from his years in government.

The existence of the indictment was confirmed to the AP by a person familiar with the matter who could not publicly discuss the charges and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Trump says meeting with Putin could come in two weeks

The president, who is fond of using the two weeks timeframe for virtually anything, said his summit with the Russian leader in Budapest could happen in two weeks.

The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, is set to host the meeting, Trump said.

Aides will formally set up the date and location, Trump added.

Trump casts aside religious objections to IVF, saying the fertility treatment is ‘very pro-life’

Asked about conservatives who are critical of his support for IVF for religious reasons, Trump said he wasn’t aware of those views.

“I think this is very pro-life,” he said at his Oval Office announcement, which included a deal to make a fertility drug cheaper and new guidance to encourage employers to offer IVF coverage. “You can’t get more pro-life than this.”

Trump clarifies he won’t send US troops into Gaza after threatening Hamas

“It’s not going to be us,” Trump told reporters. “We won’t have to. There are people very close, very nearby that will go in and they’ll do the trick for easily, but under our auspices.”

Trump earlier on Thursday in a Truth Social post warned Hamas “we will have no choice but to go in and kill them” if internal bloodshed persists in Gaza.

The grim warning from Trump came after he previously downplayed the internal violence in the territory since a ceasefire took hold last week.

Trump cites a controversial Alabama lawsuit for sparking his interest in IVF

Trump said he got started on the whole issue of affordability for in vitro fertilization treatments because of an Alabama Supreme Court case from 2024, which said frozen embryos could be considered children under state law — a decision that at the time raised serious questions about a treatment used to enable people to become parents.

In their February 2024 ruling, justices said an 1872 Alabama law that enables parents to sue over the wrongful death of a minor child “applies to all unborn children, regardless of their location.”

The ruling in LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine temporarily stopped IVF in the state and became a political controversy as states grappled with the implications of the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned abortion rights in the 1973 decision Roe v. Wade.

Trump said in remarks while rolling out his plans to reduce IVF costs that Republican Sen. Katie Britt, of Alabama, got him started on this issue by bringing to his attention the Alabama Supreme Court ruling. While campaigning for the presidency in 2024, Trump came out in support of IVF as a result.

By December 2024, a judge dismissed the wrongful death lawsuit that had led to the Alabama Supreme Court ruling.

Trump announces drugmaker EMD Serono will reduce the cost of a fertility medication

The president said at the White House on Thursday that his administration struck a deal with EMD Serono to cut the cost of the drug, Gonal-f. It’s the third deal the administration has made with pharmaceutical companies to cut drug prices in recent weeks.

Trump also said his administration will work with the company to expedite FDA approval of another one of its fertility drugs, Pergoveris.

Military funds are expected to cover one pay period during shutdown

Congress has been told the funding needed to pay the troops this week will tally be about $6.5 billion, according to a person granted anonymity because they were unauthorized to discuss the situation.

Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, which is headed by Russ Vought, informed Congress that the money would cover one pay period.

Trump had instructed the Pentagon to come up with funding to ensure the troops don’t miss a paycheck. The budget office tapped unused research and development money.

It is unclear how the troops will be paid during the next payday, in two weeks.

— Lisa Mascaro

Texas governor to activate National Guard troops for Austin ‘No Kings’ protest

Texas National Guard soldiers and troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety will be deployed to Austin to help law enforcement manage Saturday’s “No Kings” protest in the state’s capital, according to Gov. Greg Abbott.

“Texas will deter criminal mischief and work with local law enforcement to arrest anyone engaging in acts of violence or damaging property,” Abbott said in a statement Thursday.

In June, Abbott deployed more than 5,000 Texas National Guard troops around the state to monitor similar protests against Trump and ongoing federal immigration raids.

Earlier this month, Abbott sent about 400 Texas National Guard troops to Illinois to help the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement operation in Chicago.

Trump administration appeals judge’s decision in anti-DEI case

The Trump administration is appealing a federal judge’s decision blocking the Education Department’s attempts to forbid diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the nation’s schools.

The Education Department filed a notice of appeal Wednesday following a lower court’s decision in August. The initial ruling in Maryland found the agency violated the law when it threatened to cut federal funding from schools and colleges that continued with DEI efforts.

The lawsuit was filed by the American Federation of Teachers and the American Sociological Association. It centers on two Education Department memos ordering schools and universities to end all “race-based decision-making.”

The memos have been on hold since April when multiple federal judges blocked the anti-DEI measures.

Kremlin hails Putin-Trump call as ‘frank and trusting’

The Kremlin said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s call with Trump was “frank and trusting.”

Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters that the call that was initiated by the Russian leader and lasted nearly 2 1/2 hours.

Ushakov said Putin congratulated Trump on the Gaza ceasefire, noting that “the U.S. President’s peacekeeping activities have been highly praised in the Middle East, in America itself, and in most countries around the world.”

Turning to Ukraine, the Russian leader noted that possible supplies of the U.S. Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine will not change the situation on the battlefield but will inflict significantly damage U.S.-Russian relations, Ushakov said.

The Kremlin adviser specifically noted that Putin highly assessed Melania Trump’s efforts to help reunite Russian and Ukrainian children with their families.

Ushakov said preparations for Putin’s meeting with Trump in Budapest will start with a phone call between the top U.S. and Russian diplomats.

Trump calls for countries to oppose special fee meant to reduce fossil fuel usage in container ships

The president on his social media site said he’s “outraged” by a vote planned on Friday by the International Maritime Organization to impose a global fee on the carbon emissions produced by container ships.

Trump urged other nations in the organization to vote no, saying on Truth Social that the United States “will not adhere” to the fee “in any way, shape, or form” if it passes. In April, the organization agreed to the framework for the fee that is meant to reduce the use of fossil fuels that are contributing to climate change.

Trump, who has imposed sweeping tariffs on goods coming into the U.S., called the fee a “scam” that could worsen inflation.

“We will not tolerate increased prices on American Consumers,” he posted.

Thune says Senate will consider Russia sanctions legislation

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., says the Senate will consider bipartisan legislation to impose steep tariffs on countries that purchase Russia’s oil, gas, uranium and other exports in the coming weeks as Trump announced that he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Thune said the Senate will consider the bill “in the next 30 days” and that the legislation’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, will introduce revised legislation soon.

The White House has been working with lawmakers on the bill, which has stalled for months as Republican leaders waited for Trump to give his approval.

“I don’t want to commit to a hard deadline, but it will be soon,” Thune said.

Military retirees criticize possible National Guard deployment to Chicago

Retired military leaders are criticizing the possibility of a National Guard deployment to the Chicago area as inappropriate and dangerous.

Randy Manner, a retired Army major general, was among several former military leaders who appeared with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday in Chicago amid an ongoing federal immigration crackdown.

“Soldiers are trained to eliminate threats, not to deescalate tensions or protect constitutional rights during protests,” Manner said. “When we blur that line, we risk turning our own streets into battlefield and our citizens into potential enemies.”

A judge has temporarily blocked a Chicago area deployment saying the federal government hasn’t presented evidence to justify it.

Pritzker and other local leaders have said military deployments aren’t needed or wanted.

Coal sales in western states fall flat

The Interior Department rejected a mining company’s bid for 1.3 million tons of coal beneath a national forest in Utah, marking the third proposed coal sale from public lands in the West to fall through this month.

The failed sales mark a setback in Trump’s push to revive a coal mining industry that’s been in decline for almost two decades.

Interior officials rejected the sole bid received for coal on a proposed 120-acre (49-hectare) lease on the Manti-La Sal National Forest in central Utah because it did not meet the requirements of the Mineral Leasing Act, which requires companies to pay fair market value for coal from public lands.

Penn declines Trump’s proposal to reshape higher education

The University of Pennsylvania told Trump officials that it “respectfully declines” to sign the agreement, according to a campus message from Penn President J. Larry Jameson. The message cited “substantive concerns” but did not elaborate.

It follows other rejections from Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Penn faced pressure to turn the deal down, including from its faculty senate and state Democrats.

The Trump administration invited nine universities to become initial signatories of the compact, offering “multiple positive benefits” including favorable access to federal funding. In exchange, universities were asked to make commitments aligned with Trump’s agenda.

It asked for commitments to remove race from admissions decisions, to promote conservative views on campus, to limit protests and to ensure “institutional neutrality” on current events, among other provisions

Trump warns Hamas ‘we will have no choice but to go in and kill them’ if bloodshed persists in Gaza

The grim warning from Trump came after he previously downplayed the internal violence in the territory since a ceasefire went into effect last week.

Trump said Tuesday that Hamas had taken out “a couple of gangs that were very bad” and had killed a number of gang members. “That didn’t bother me much, to be honest with you,” he said.

Trump says he’ll meet with Putin in Hungary to try to resolve the Russia-Ukraine war

Trump said Thursday that he’ll meet with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Hungary to try to resolve the war in Ukraine, but a date has yet to be determined.

Trump spoke with Putin on Thursday as he considers Ukraine’s push for long-range missiles. The call comes ahead of Trump’s meeting on Friday at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has been pressing Trump to sell Kyiv Tomahawk missiles that would allow Ukrainian forces to strike deeper into Russian territory. Zelenskyy has argued such strikes would help compel Putin to take Trump’s calls for direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to end the war more seriously.

Massachusetts Gov. Healy dismisses Trump’s threats to move World Cup as ‘political theatre’

“Oh, God. Come on. You know, that’s just more political theater, so I don’t really pay that too much mind,” Democratic Gov. Maura Healey said Thursday at a press conference in Boston when asked by a reporter about Trump’s threats to move World Cup matches scheduled to take place in Massachusetts.

Healey said “it doesn’t make any sense” for the matches to be moved, and emphasized that Massachusetts has some of the lowest crime statistics in the U.S. She said Patriots Owner Robert Kraft and others have been working hard planning for the events, set to take place at Gillette Stadium, and they have safety measures “under control.”

“But that’s another day, another Donald Trump comment. So you got to understand what that is,” Healey said.

Illinois governor applauds judge’s intent to require immigration agents wear body cameras

Gov. JB Pritzker is praising a federal judge who said she will require federal immigration agents in the Chicago to wear body cameras.

Pritzker, a Democrat, told reporters Thursday that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s statements about arrests are often inaccurate.

That includes last month’s fatal shooting of a suburban Chicago man. DHS officials initially said an officer was “seriously” injured, but local police body camera showed him saying his injuries were “nothing major.”

“They clearly lie about what goes on,” Pritzker said. “It’s hard for us to know right away what the truth is.”

Judge permanently blocks Trump administration from withholding $34M to protect NY’s transportation system from terrorist attacks

Judge Lewis A. Kaplan said in a ruling Thursday that the Republican administration’s decision to withhold the earmarked money, based on the Big Apple’s “sanctuary city” protections for illegal immigrants, was “arbitrary, capricious, and a blatant violation of the law.”

The post-9/11 Transit Security Grant Program, Kaplan noted, was created with instructions that money be allocated solely on the basis of terrorism risk. The judge had previously issued an order temporarily freezing the move.

The state sued Department of Homeland Security after it said last month that it was eliminating funding for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the city’s transit system.

The MTA said its allocation, the largest of any transit agency, pays for targeted counterterrorism patrols, security equipment, infrastructure enhancements, cybersecurity technology and weapons detection technologies.

Trump says he’s on the phone with Putin now

The U.S. president wrote on his social media site that he is on the phone with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

“I am speaking to President Putin now. The conversation is ongoing, a lengthy one, and I will report the contents, as will President Putin, at its conclusion. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump said on Truth Social late Thursday morning.

The call comes ahead of Trump’s meeting on Friday at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Ukrainian leader has been pressing Trump to sell Kyiv Tomahawk missiles, which would allow Ukrainian forces to strike deeper into Russian territory.

Details on bodycams for Chicago-area immigration agents will be discussed Monday

In response to a federal judge saying she will require immigration agents in the Chicago area to wear body cameras, an attorney for the federal government said they don’t have body cameras.

Sean Skedzielewski also said the Department of Homeland Security has limited resources to hand those out immediately.

U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis responded: “I understand that. I would not be expecting agents to wear body worn cameras they do not have.”

She said details could be worked out starting at an additional hearing on Monday.

House Democrats say AG Pam Bondi’s response to Epstein subpoena has been ‘completely insufficient’

The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Robert Garcia, is sending a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi that criticizes the Department of Justice’s handling of a congressional subpoena for the investigative files into the late financier Jeffrey Epstein.

“Your response to our bipartisan subpoena has been completely insufficient,” Garcia writes. “The only production of documents by DOJ consisted almost entirely of documents that were either already public or in the Committee’s possession.”

Garcia said the Justice Department has not turned over any documents since Aug. 22.

House Speaker Mike Johnson has repeatedly pointed to the House Oversight Committee’s inquiry as he tries to stave off an effort to hold a vote on a bill to force the Justice Department to publicly release the files.

Johnson said he wants to return to being ‘happy Mike’

House Speaker Mike Johnson ended his news conference Thursday on the federal government shutdown a bit riled up but quickly caught himself.

“I don’t like being mad Mike. I want to be happy Mike,” Johnson said, prompting laughter from colleagues and reporters in the room. “I want to be a happy warrior, but I’m so upset about this. God bless America. We’re done.”

Johnson says he has ‘no idea’ how the shutdown will end

Johnson said he’s at a loss on how to answer an often-asked question from reporters: How will the federal government shutdown end?

“We have no idea,” Johnson said.

Johnson’s comments came as he kicked off the daily news conference that congressional leaders of both parties have been holding as they attempt to shape public opinion on the shutdown, which began Oct. 1

The comments underscore the lack of progress that has been made in resolving the impasse. Johnson said Democrats have offered “no common-sense path forward for ending this situation.”

Judge slams Border Patrol for high-speed chase through Chicago neighborhood

At Thursday’s federal court hearing, Judge Sara L. Ellis also raised concerns about a high-speed car chase Tuesday on the Chicago’s South Side as Border Patrol agents pursued a driver before using tear gas on protesters and residents who were gathering in the residential neighborhood.

She said that while some agents may be accustomed to working along the U.S.-Mexico border, Chicago is an “urban, densely populated area, where appropriate crowd control is important, where trying to apprehend people is very, very different.”

“I have to tell you there’s a reason the Chicago Police Department has policies about car chases and where they occur and when you need to stop,” she said.

Judge to require bodycams, accuses immigration officers of not following order restricting tear gas

A federal judge on Thursday said she will require that immigration officers in the Chicago area must wear body cameras. She also said they did not follow a previous order from her barring the use of tear gas and other weapons on peaceful protesters and journalists.

U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis in Chicago said she was “profoundly concerned” about reports of tear gas use since last her previous ruling last week. That decision also said federal agents must wear badges.

“I’m not happy,” Ellis said. “I’m really not happy.”

Ellis noted instances of news outlets reporting that tear gas was deployed without giving people warning and images of federal agents in plainclothes carrying out immigration operations.

Sean Skedzielewski, an attorney for the federal government, laid blame with “one-sided and selectively edited media reports.”

What a new poll shows about Americans’ views on the government shutdown

Most see it as a significant problem as it stretches through its third week with no end in sight, a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows. Americans are blaming all the major players involved.

Roughly 6 in 10 Americans say Trump and Republicans in Congress have “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of responsibility for the shutdown, while 54% say the same about Democrats in Congress, the poll shows.

“Trump’s blaming the Democrats, and the Democrats are blaming the Republicans,” said Jason Beck, a Republican from Utah. “We’re stuck because there’s no middle ground anymore.”

The poll also finds that more Americans favor than oppose extending health insurance subsidies, which Democrats are demanding to end the stalemate. A large share, 42%, have no opinion, suggesting many are not closely following the core dispute.