John Bolton Calls on Trump to ‘Immediately Withdraw’ from Presidential Race over Second Indictment

Former national-security adviser John Bolton said Friday that Donald Trump should “immediately” end his 2024 presidential campaign after the former president was indicted on 37 federal felony charges as part of the Department of Justice’s investigation into his handling of classified documents

“Donald Trump should immediately withdraw as a candidate for president. Criminal charges are piling up around him. If Trump truly stood for America First policies, he would support the rule of law instead of continually flouting it. Withdraw now!” Trump’s former national-security adviser tweeted.

Bolton’s post came after the 49-page federal indictment was unsealed on Friday. Trump is facing 37 counts, including willful retention of national-defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and making false statements and representations.

The indictment includes evidence that Trump knew he had possession of “secret” and “highly confidential” documents that he had not declassified. Trump allegedly had dozens of boxes at his Mar-a-Lago residence that held materials including documents about the defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries, U.S. nuclear programs, potential vulnerabilities of the U.S. and its allies, and plans for a possible retaliation in case of a foreign attack, according to the indictment.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has dismissed the investigation as politically motivated.

The indictment comes after Trump was indicted in March by a Manhattan grand jury on 34 counts of falsifying business records relating to hush-money payments that his former attorney, Michael Cohen, made to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump.

Republican presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson previously called on Trump to drop out of the race once the Manhattan indictment appeared imminent.

“When a public official is indicted, I think with regard to the office, the office is more important than the person and they should step aside,” Hutchinson said in March. “That standard should apply here. It is a distraction. It is not a good day for America, but the system has to play out here and we have to have confidence that it can.”

He reiterated this message after Trump announced he was facing an indictment in the classified-documents probe on Thursday.

“Donald Trump’s actions — from his willful disregard for the Constitution to his disrespect for the rule of law – should not define our nation or the Republican Party,” Hutchinson said.

“This is a sad day for our country,” he added. “While Donald Trump is entitled to the presumption of innocence, the ongoing criminal proceedings will be a major distraction. This reaffirms the need for Donald Trump to respect the office and end his campaign.”

Other 2024 contenders decried the latest charges against Trump as politically motivated.

“You don’t have to be a Republican to see injustice and want to fix it. You don’t have to be a Democrat to see injustice and want to fix it. You just have to be an American and stand up for the right thing,” Senator Tim Scott said on Fox News. “The one thing that makes America the city on the hill is confidence in our justice system. And today, what we see is a justice system where the scales are weighted.”

Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy called out the “federal police state” for selectively targeting Democrats’ political opponents.

“We can’t have two tiers of justice: one for Trump, another for Biden. One for Assange, another for Manning,” he tweeted. “One for BLM/Antifa, another for peaceful protesters on Jan 6. It would be much easier for me to win this election if Trump weren’t in the race, but I stand for principles over politics. I commit to pardon Trump promptly on January 20, 2025, and to restore the rule of law in our country.”