John Bolton, Donald Trump’s national security adviser before being fired in 2019 and becoming a critic of the president, has been criminally indicted on federal charges of retaining classified information and sharing it with family members. He could face decades in prison. The Wall Street Journal has pointed up the dangers of speaking out against Trump, with this indictment following on from judicial cases against former FBI director James Comey and NY AG Letitia James. “There’s little doubt that the underlying motivation for this prosecution is retribution.” Trump is still sore after Bolton published a tell-all book in 2020.
The case against Bolton resembles the investigations of both Trump and former President Joe Biden for possessing classified documents in their homes; as well as criticism of Hillary Clinton for her use of emails.
John Bolton, 20 November 1948, Baltimore, Maryland, is a Sun Scorpio which squares Trump’s Mars in Leo so a tinderbox duo. Bolton’s impulsive, explosive Mars in Sagittarius conjunct Jupiter opposition Uranus also clashes with Trump’s Gemini Sun and Sagittarius Moon for more fireworks.
At the moment Bolton has his Solar Arc Sun exactly opposition his Pluto for a deadlock; with an ominous SA Pluto conjunct his South Node. Tr Neptune Saturn has been square his Jupiter and Uranus earlier this year and across the winter, extending as far as January 2027 which is/ will be confidence denting. Plus tr Uranus opposing his Sun in December 2026 and March 2027 for a major upheaval. Plus a jolting tr Uranus square his Saturn from mid 2026 into 2027. It looks exceedingly bumpy ahead for him.
His relationship chart with Trump (minus Bolton’s birth time) is chained together and resenting it. But with nothing much showing now bar tr Uranus opposition the composite North Node which is conjunct Algol, hinting at aggravation out on the public scene.
Trump’s Inauguration chart with its bullying, vengeful Sun Pluto opposition Mars – also has a shouty, excitable Mars opposition a 9th house Mercury square a 6th house Moon. The focal point Moon in the 6th highlights health care, as well as civil service (government jobs) and miliary employees – with the 9th house Mercury pulling legal affairs into the mix. The Progressed Moon is continuing to close the T square to Sun Pluto to exact around next March 2026 – so a point worth watching for.
Without indulging in wishful thinking or letting prejudices show – 2026 looks to be the year that the USA starts to question its support for Trump in a more significant way. There will be moments of uncertainty across the winter as tr Neptune Saturn square the composite Neptune. But it will be tr Saturn in March followed by tr Neptune on April 2026 square the composite Sun which will start a downhill slide, running into 2027. With widening differences after mid 2026 into 2027 with tr Uranus square the composite Saturn. Nothing cataclysmic but a definite sense of a change in the political weather.
It might be worth watching the New Moon at 28 degrees of legal Libra on 21st October. I noticed that it is square another legal, and potentially international, Jupiter at 24 Cancer, and inconjunct slippery Pisces Saturn, 26 Pisces.
So potentially it energises:
US Mercury, 24 Cancer, opposition Pluto, 27 Capricorn – does this suggest secret papers?
Inauguration’s progressed Moon 27 Libra; MC 27 Capricorn; Mars 24 Capricorn – tr Jupiter expanding and challenging military Mars? Legal arguments? If the Moon is ‘the people’, how are they challenging the direction of this government?
Bolton and Trump’s composite Mars is 26 Libra. Tr Pisces Saturn in the New Moon chart creates awkward tensions with that Mars, and I think adds to the themes of military and legal matters which might not be easy to resolve.
Mars and Mercury’s conjunction in implacable Scorpio may also be of interest. It’s at 19-20 degrees, squaring Pluto in Aquarius in the Washington Inauguration chart of 30 April, 1789. The Bolton/Trump composite has Chariklo at 20 Scorpio too. I wonder how the Graceful Spinner might express itself in this “karmic” conflict?
Thanks for posting on Bolton, Marjorie. He’s a very interesting character, aside from his prominence in US security and politics generally. Wikipedia has a long, detailed article on him. I read Bolton’s book, The Room Where It Happened, and enjoyed it as it is clearly written with intelligence and a bit of humor. He’is certainly a hawk and not a soft-hearted liberal. However, it must have taken some courage to write the book and actually publish it. Obviously he was trying to set off an alarm about Trump’s unpredictable behaviour, but as I read it, I wondered how he could get away with some of the information he disclosed. Supposedly the publication was carefully vetted, but the book is detailed, heavy tale of Trump horrors and back room dealings. It makes you wonder what more actually went on that wasn’t disclosed, if the text was considered to be publishable from the legal standpoint.
It does look like a hard go for Bolton. His natal and progressedRx Neptune are precisely conjunct the US natal Saturn at 14 Libra, and square the US natal Sun at 13 Cancer. Neptune illusions and ideals are on the chopping block, but Bolton’s natal Saturn is sextile US natal Jupiter, so maybe it will be of benefit to the nation down the road. Transiting Mercury and Mars are square Bolton’s progressed Pluto at the indictment – nothing easy about that on either side. Bolton’s progressed Mars is conjunct the US Moon.
Using the US Scorpio rising chart, however, where Mercury Rx sits in the 9th house of major legal and international matters, the indictment chart has Jupiter transiting the nation’s natal MercuryRx. Also, the US progressed chart has a yod from p.Neptune and p.North Node to US natal Moon at 25 Aquarius. Which way will the public lean?
Perhaps, in the end, Bolton’s literary disclosures will be seen as appropriate, or at least no worse than all the others. He might get off easy if it goes as far as the Supreme Court (and he gets a chance to disclose even more behind closed doors). If honest (albeit aggressive) civil servants cannot tell what they truly know about a wayward President and face jail time instead, there soon won’t be any competent people willing to serve, or to defend them in court. Time will tell if the legal system will disintegrate to that extent before Trump is out of office.
John Bolton is getting his just desserts for his past deeds: he was the architect of the false WMD claims to justify the 2003 Iraq War; he threatened and sanctioned the International Criminal Court’s officials to prevent it from investigating American war crimes in Afghanistan; he admitted, on live TV, his involvement in engineering coups d’etat in foreign countries; he actively suppressed information about the CIA’s involvement with drug running in Latin America. These are just a few of his actions that have caused death and suffering to thousands of people. No one should feel sorry for Bolton just because one dislikes Trump.
This. Couldn’t agree more.
@ Quiet, you are correct that karma comes in many forms.
The case against Bolton resembles the investigations of both Trump and former President Joe Biden for possessing classified documents in their homes; as well as criticism of Hillary Clinton for her use of emails.
Really, Marjorie?
Trump stole classified documents and refused to return them and then he only returned some of them while allowing his lawyer to falsify an affidavit stating that all of requested documents had been returned.
Biden could have lied and said that he didn’t find anything, but he was honest and returned the documents.
This Bolton thing is of course payback for telling the truth about Trump.
I kinda wish that Trump had won in 2020 so he would be in our rear-view mirror by now and we would be picking up the pieces,
This wasn’t for speaking out against Trump. The case against John Bolton was initiated by the Justice Department, but it began during the Biden administration after an investigation into his handling of classified materials.
John Bolton’s only hope is left-wing jury nullification. They have him dead to rights on sending top secret intel to his editor friends all so Bolton could get a million-dollar book deal. He handed over A THOUSAND pages from his time as National Security Advisor, including material classified up to TOP SECRET/SCI, to two people who had no clearance to see it. They try to spin it by claiming that Bolton sent the classified documents to relatives (why would he do that anyway, for them to pass it on to someone else?) but they won’t be able to get around the fact that the material ended up intercepted by a hostile country, Iran.
Time for John Bolton will get his due process.
if it was about justice over classified docs and transmission of such, Trump would be charged. The charges against Bolton are transmission of national defense information and 10 counts of unlawful retention.
Trump was also accused of doing both of those things. E.g., Trump is accused of sharing sensitive nuclear sub info with foreign agents.
ABC News:
“ Months after leaving the White House, former President Donald Trump allegedly discussed potentially sensitive information about U.S. nuclear submarines with a member of his Mar-a-Lago Club — an Australian billionaire who then allegedly shared the information with scores of others, including more than a dozen foreign officials, several of his own employees, and a handful of journalists, according to sources familiar with the matter.”
Doesn’t make what Bolton did okay, but to suggest this is just for justice simply doesn’t wash when the entire DOJ is going after Trump’s enemies while justifying Trump’s alleged violations of the same laws.
“He handed over A THOUSAND pages from his time as National Security Advisor, including material classified up to TOP SECRET/SCI, to two people who had no clearance to see it. ”
Trump did pretty much the same thing, but MAGA Judge Aillen Cannon prevented him from receiving justice.
You forget that Trump had and has presidential privilege to take any classified records just as Biden did with the records in his garage. Presidents have the authority to declassify any records while in office. Bolton did not have that privilege. Bolton was part of an extensive ‘Old Guard’ leaking team centered on defense/foreign policy for years. And news today is Bolton leaked thru his wife and if he doesn’t talk, she could be arrested.
Sorry for late reply, have been traveling.
Boy did that last paragraph give me some hope. And it’s really not the whole country that has to question its support for Trump; it’s really only between 30-35% which is simply maddening.
30-35% of support is what the Reform Party in the UK gets in opinion polling, as does Marine LePen’s RN in France, the AfD in Germany and right wing parties in most other Western democracies.
The way it complicates politics in the West is that if one excludes these parties getting the democratic process, as has been done in Western Europe, forming stable governments from the parties representing the balance 70%, which have widely divergent political views (from economic conservatism/free market politics to outright communism) is wellnigh impossible. See the current chaos in government formation in France, for instance.
In the US, never-Republicans may side with AOC and the Squad to try and remove or block Trump’s policies, but they won’t be able to agree on what to replace him/his policies with.
Same here, Burt. I’m hoping tomorrow (“no kings” protests) we see the beginnings of what Marjorie sees for next year.
There’s a striking kite formation for the NoKings protest. A grand trine in Air with Venus in Libra, Pluto in Aquarius, Uranus in Gemini. Focal point is Neptune/Saturn in Aries. Moon is in Virgo but moves into Libra as the hours go by to join peaceful Venus as part of the Air grand trine.
It was quite surreal watching Mike Johnson and the alarmingly zealous KkarolineLeavitt describe the protests as a gathering of hostile communists, Marxists and haters of America. Classic narcissistic projection, since the crowd will be diverse, including families, pastors and veterans young and old.