Justice Department officials want prosecutors to rush an indictment of President Donald Trump's former National Security Adviser John Bolton, rather than continue gathering evidence, to keep Trump happy and make him feel like his orders are being followed, CNN reported on Thursday.
"Currently, the prosecutors think they could bring a stronger case by the end of the year against Bolton over the mishandling of national security documents, rather than pushing for a charge at this time," wrote Katelyn Polantz and Hannah Rabinowitz. However, per one source, "Some political leadership at the Justice Department see the Bolton case as a way to charge a criminal case Trump would like to see to placate the president."
The investigation against Bolton, an outspoken critic of the president who clashed with other administration members while in office, actually first began under the Biden administration, when it became clear there were classified documents in his possession.
However, according to reports, they ultimately decided against moving forward with a prosecution, not necessarily because there was no case, but because they were concerned it didn't outweigh the risk of foreign adversaries ascertaining from the prosecution what capabilities the United States has to spy on them.
Bolton, for his part, denies any wrongdoing, saying the documents are years old and were declassified before coming into his possession.
All of this comes as Trump also pushes for criminal prosecutions of other targets of his political anger, including former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Earlier this month, Trump forced out a U.S. attorney in Virginia he himself had appointed because he could not find sufficient evidence to move forward with such charges.
