AILSA CHANG, HOST:
An unenviable list has now grown to three people - they are James Comey, Letitia James and John Bolton. These are all people President Trump sees as political enemies, and now they are all facing federal charges. Bolton was, of course, national security adviser during the first Trump administration and has since become a vocal critic of the president. And yesterday, he was indicted on 18 counts related to mishandling classified documents. Bolton has pleaded not guilty. He said in a statement, quote, "now I have become the latest target in weaponizing the Justice Department."
Well, to talk about all of this, we're going to bring in Andrew Weissmann. He's a legal analyst and former federal prosecutor. Welcome back to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
ANDREW WEISSMANN: Nice to be here.
CHANG: Nice to have you. OK, real quick, these 18 counts - boil them down. What are the alleged crimes here?
WEISSMANN: Sure. Well, what he's alleged to have done is to taken classified information, including top-secret information, and sending them on a Gmail account - so a private server that, you know, was - I mean a private company...
CHANG: Right.
WEISSMANN: ...That's not authorized to have classified information. And in addition, he's alleged to have then given them, through those Gmail exchanges, to people who weren't authorized to have classified information.
CHANG: Family members.
WEISSMANN: So he both sent it and gave it to people who should not have had classified information.
CHANG: OK. Well, let's just remind everyone that President Trump himself was facing charges related to classified information before he took office again. How does the Bolton case compare to that Trump case, in your mind?
WEISSMANN: Such a great question because when I think about this case, in many ways, it is unlike the Comey case and Letitia James case because it appears on the face of it to be stronger and more merited to bring - that it's (ph) righteous. And one indication of that is that career people signed this. So it is - we don't have that unusual confluence of events that was true of the other two.
CHANG: Right. And this investigation into Bolton started under the Biden administration.
WEISSMANN: Exactly.
CHANG: That's another difference. Yeah.
WEISSMANN: Yep. And it reads like the kind of indictment that career people would do. And in fact, career people have signed it. But it is also, I think, an example of - better than the other two - of the sort of two systems of justice. And the reason is because you can look at what Donald Trump did, where it's very similar, and many people would argue was even worse. Or you could look at what Pete Hegseth and other people did, using Signal to talk about something that had to have been highly classified, involving a military strike.
And so you're - you really do have a sense of, for enemies, we will hold them to the law, but for friends, we will not. And so it really does - you know, is - illustrates, in a way, that Comey's indictment and Letitia James' indictment illustrates, but even more directly here, just how much there are two systems of justice in operation.
CHANG: Well, given the differences that you just flagged between the cases against Jim Comey and Tish James and this case against Bolton, do you see the Bolton case as part of this larger pattern of this Justice Department going after Trump's political enemies, or not?
WEISSMANN: I do. And I do think that that is, frankly, the more serious issue that it raises because it's the antithesis of the rule of law. But that being said, it's not that John Bolton should not be charged if he did this. And this is - you know, an investigation appears to be solid. It's that...
CHANG: Yeah.
WEISSMANN: ...The other people, whether it's Donald Trump or Pete Hegseth, should also be held accountable. I used to be in the intelligence community, and, you know, people who handle intentionally classified information in this way do get prosecuted.
CHANG: Yeah.
WEISSMANN: So it is not...
CHANG: Well...
WEISSMANN: ...Unusual.
CHANG: ...If I may, in just the last few seconds, President Trump named you as somebody he wants the Justice Department to go after. Are you concerned that an indictment is coming your way?
WEISSMANN: Well, we shall see. I mean, you know, I would - I haven't done anything wrong, so that would be at least a bit of a stumbling block for them. So, you know, we shall see. But I think...
CHANG: All right.
WEISSMANN: ...My view is, you just have to carry on with your life and not let the chilling effect of those words affect, you know, reporting and doing what you...
CHANG: All right.
WEISSMANN: ...Need to do and speaking out where you should.
CHANG: Andrew Weissmann, former federal prosecutor, thank you so much for joining us.
WEISSMANN: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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