BURSTRep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on Friday criticized the Trump administration over the indictment against former national security adviser John Bolton.
Bolton was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of transmitting and retaining national defense information, making him the latest Trump critic to be criminally charged.
"It's hard to know what to say about this other than there is no way that had Bolton not broken with Donald Trump, he would be facing these charges today,” Raskin said during a Friday appearance on CNN’s “News Central.”
The Maryland representative said Bolton would have a very strong claim of “selective” and “vindictive prosecution” because the charges came after the former national security adviser said President Trump was “melting” before Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the country’s war with Ukraine.
Raskin also accused Trump of “constantly mixing government business with personal moneymaking business.”
“I mean, he wrote a whole book saying, if Trump were to be elected again, the second term would be far worse than the first term,” Raskin told host John Berman.
“And so there‘s no doubt that revenge is being exacted against him for those kinds of statements," he added.
Bolton’s charges follow the Justice Department’s decision to indict former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), who both investigated Trump criminally prior to his reelection.
The Wall Street Journal and some political commentators have accused the president of launching a retribution campaign against his political enemies upon his return to the White House.
“Mr. Bolton will get his day in court, and we look forward to his defense. In our experience he is a patriot who would do nothing to compromise national security,” the Journal wrote in an editorial. “He never leaked classified information to us. If Mr. Bolton had praised Mr. Trump in his book, it’s safe to say he wouldn’t have been indicted.”
Bolton, whose home was raided by the FBI earlier this year, pleaded not guilty during his Friday arraignment and previously said in a statement that he would “never” compromise the country’s foreign policy or national security goals.
“These charges are not just about his focus on me or my diaries, but his intensive effort to intimidate his opponents, to ensure that he alone determines what is said about his conduct,” the former national security adviser said of Trump after being criminally charged.
“Dissent and disagreement are foundational to America’s constitutional system, and vitally important to our freedom. I look forward to the fight to defend my lawful conduct and to expose [Trump’s] abuse of power,” Bolton added.
On Thursday, the president told reporters he was unaware of Bolton’s indictment but criticized his character.
“I think he’s a bad person. I think he’s a bad guy,” Trump told reporters. “It’s too bad, but it’s the way it goes."