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Former Donald Trump adviser John Bolton has been charged with illegally storing and transmitting classified information.
Bolton served for more than a year in President Trump's first administration before being fired in 2019. He has since become one of the president's most vocal critics and last year described Mr Trump as unfit for office.
The investigation into Bolton burst into public view in August when the FBI searched his Maryland home and Washington office for classified records he may have held on to from his years in government.
Previously unsealed court filings said agents seized multiple documents labelled as "classified", "confidential" and "secret" from Bolton's office.
Some of the records appeared to concern weapons of mass destruction, national "strategic communication" and the US mission to the United Nations, they said.
Thursday's indictment alleges Bolton retained multiple documents, and used personal email and messaging accounts to send files classified as top secret, the US justice department said.
Bolton's lawyer has previously denied that he engaged in wrongdoing.
He has been charged with eight counts of transmission of national defence information (NDI) and 10 counts of unlawful retention of NDI, the department said.
Each charge comes with a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Asked by reporters at the White House about Bolton facing charges, Mr Trump said: "He's a bad guy."
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It marks the third time in recent weeks that the US justice department has secured criminal charges against one of Mr Trump's critics.
Former FBI director James Comey - who was fired by Mr Trump in 2017 - is facing charges of making false statements to Congress and obstruction of Congress, which he denies.
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New York Attorney General Letitia James, who previously brought a civil fraud case against Trump and his family real estate company, is facing charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution. She has denied wrongdoing.
Bolton served as US ambassador to the UN, as well as White House national security adviser, before being sacked by Mr Trump in 2019.
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