A Maryland grand jury convened on Wednesday afternoon to deliberate whether to indict former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton on criminal charges of mishandling classified documents.

A person close to the Justice Department’s investigation into Mr. Bolton told the Sun that charges could be filed as soon as close of business on Wednesday. 

If indicted, Mr. Bolton would become the latest in a string of President Trump’s adversaries to face federal criminal charges in recent weeks. The Justice Department has already secured indictments against a former FBI director, James Comey, and Attorney General Letitia James of New York, for making false statements to Congress and bank fraud, respectively. 

The acting U.S. Attorney for Maryland, Kelly O. Hayes has reportedly told Justice Department officials she is confident there is enough evidence to indict Mr. Bolton. Ms. Hayes, a career prosecutor, was not specifically appointed by Mr. Trump, as is the case in other jurisdictions exploring charges against Trump enemies. 

Former defense attorney for Mr. Trump and the interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Lindsey Halligan, advanced criminal charges against Mr. Comey and Ms. James after her predecessor, Erik Siebert, was forced out after Mr. Trump objected to the strong support he had from Virginia’s two Democratic senators, who Mr. Trump despises. ABC News also reported that Mr. Siebert was resisting charging Ms. James.  

On Tuesday, Mr. Comey’s defense attorney filed a motion challenging the legality of Ms. Halligan’s appointment as interim U.S. attorney. Mr. Comey is calling for the charges to be dismissed. Mr. Comey’s team scored an early win when U.S. District Court Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff, a Biden appointee, denied the Justice Department’s request for a protective order that he said would “unnecessarily hinder and delay Defendant’s ability to adequately prepare for trial.”

News of Mr. Bolton’s indictment comes just months after the FBI conducted surprise early-morning raids on August 22 for classified documents at his Bethesda home and Washington office. Federal agents recovered records from his office labeled “confidential” and “classified,” including documents referencing weapons of mass destruction, diplomatic travel memos, and records of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, according to court records. 

Mr. Bolton has maintained that he did not include any classified material in his 2020 memoir, “The Room Where It Happened,” which Mr. Trump unsuccessfully tried to block from publication over claims the former national security adviser improperly disclosed classified information.

“I’m very confident that there’s nothing in the book that’s classified,” Mr. Bolton, a lifelong diplomat and staunch advocate of the use of force for diplomacy, said at a speaking engagement at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government last month. 

Mr. Bolton’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, who is also representing Ms. James, said the recovered documents were “cleared for his client’s use.” 

“These are the kinds of ordinary records, many of which are 20 years old or more, that would be kept by a 40-year career official,” Mr. Lowell said in a statement. 

Recently, the Justice Department was focusing its investigation on Mr. Bolton’s AOL email account to store summaries and notes from his time as Mr. Trump’s security adviser, according to CNN.  Investigators were looking into whether any of those notes contained classified information.

Mr. Bolton’s book was a no. 1 New York Times best seller and was one of the most successful Trump tell-alls, selling 780,000 copies in its first week alone. In the book, Mr. Bolton was withering about Mr. Trump, describing the president as a gullible figure easily manipulated by flattery from foreign strongmen. The president was said to be particularly irritated that the book made Mr. Bolton a lot of money.

At Harvard recently, after the raid on his home, Mr. Bolton reiterated his criticism of Mr. Trump’s approach to foreign policy, saying “nothing disciplined his thinking.”

Mr. Bolton added that the current administration is “all about Donald Trump and his neuron flashes on a day-by-day basis.”