A former special counsel for the White House and a frequent critic of President Donald Trump says that the charges brought against ex-National Security Adviser (NSA) John Bolton have merit. 

Ty Cobb, according to Newsmax, admitted as much during a recent appearance on CNN.

This cannot be good news for Bolton, who, thus far, is trying to argue that the charges are a baseless attempt by President Trump to get retribution.

Ty Cobb, a White House special counsel in President Donald Trump's first term and a frequent Trump critic, said the prosecution of John Bolton was "clearly not" based solely on revenge. MORE: https://t.co/MKgRgDMYgS pic.twitter.com/yofl9Y8jcU

— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) October 18, 2025

"Clearly not"

Cobb, during his CNN appearance, pushed back on the notion that Trump, with the indictment of Bolton, is merely trying to exact revenge.

He said, "Bolton insisting that this is purely revenge, that's clearly not the case if you read the indictment."

Cobb then contrasted the Bolton case with the case of ex-FBI Director James Comey, saying:

Keep in mind that in the Comey case, seasoned senior prosecutors who were later forced to resign told the Justice Department that there was insufficient evidence to pursue the case. That's clearly not what we have here when you look at this indictment ... so, this shouldn't come as a news flash that there's a potential crime here.

That's not all.

Cobb added:

Two federal magistrate judges issued search warrants where the probable cause standard that was used by the grand jury was met. And they issued search warrants. The materials that were taken are consequential — and highly consequential — because the most important paragraph in the indictment to me is the paragraph that makes plain not a single one of the documents used in the book or in the pre-review process is a basis for any of the charges.

Background

Bolton is facing 18 felony counts.

The Hill reports:

Federal prosecutors indicted Bolton on Thursday on 18 counts related to retaining and transmitting national defense information. Prosecutors alleged Bolton kept information related to national defense at his home after exiting the Trump administration in September 2019 and that he sent more than a thousand pages of “diary-like entries” containing sensitive information to two relatives.

Bolton, in response, has attempted to liken Trump to Joseph Stalin.

The Hill writes:

He compared the Trump administration to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin’s authoritarian government, saying “Trump 2” embodied what the head of Stalin’s secret police once said: “You show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime.”

As Cobb pointed out, however - and it should be remembered that Cobb is no Trump supporter - Bolton likely has a difficult legal road ahead of him.