Why Bolton Will Have Hard Time Claiming 'He's a Victim of Retribution' by Trump

Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett said Thursday that former National Security Adviser John Bolton will struggle to convince any court that he’s a victim of retribution by President Donald Trump.

A federal grand jury in Maryland indicted Bolton on 18 counts for allegedly mishandling classified information. In an appearance on “The Evening Edit,” Jarrett said Bolton’s legal defense mirrors James Comey’s old argument that Trump pursued “selective and vindictive prosecution.” Jarrett said that such a claim rarely succeeds.

“His defense, I think, is going to be a page out of James Comey’s playbook, that he’s a victim of retribution by Donald Trump, that this is all selective and vindictive prosecution,” Jarrett said. “The problem with that is that under the law, it’s an uphill climb for anybody who tries to ply that defense in a pretrial motion to dismiss the case because the burden is on the defendant to prove with clear evidence that there was an unjustified motive for the prosecution.”

Jarrett added that a grand jury has already determined there was probable cause to indict.

Read More: https://dailycallernewsfoundation.org/2025/10/17/gregg-jarrett-explains-why-bolton-will-have-hard-time-claiming-hes-a-victim-of-retribution-by-trump/