Another Trump Critic Faces Prosecution

SPEAKER_1 (0:01)

How do more than 100 million Fortnite players join the battle without lag? AWS is how Epic Games scales up to keep them in the action. AWS powers next-level innovation for millions of businesses.

Kate Bullivant (0:18)

The Justice Department indicts John Bolton after an investigation into his handling of classified information. Plus, Venezuela's president mobilizes the country's troops in a show of defiance against the US. And we look at why gold and silver are shining brighter than ever before.

Joe Wallace (0:37)

Silver is in a real sweet spot right now. It's benefiting from demand for haven assets, just like gold is. But at the same time, it has industrial uses unlike, to a large extent, gold.

Kate Bullivant (0:50)

It's Friday, October 17th. I'm Kate Bullivant for The Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.

Stephen Wilmot (1:04)

John Bolton was just indicted by a grand jury in Maryland.

SPEAKER_5 (1:06)

Do you have a reaction to that?

Donald Trump (1:07)

I didn't know that.

John Bolton (1:08)

You tell me for the first time.

Donald Trump (1:09)

But I think he's, you know, a bad person.

John Bolton (1:12)

I think he's a bad guy.

Donald Trump (1:15)

Yeah, he's a bad guy.

Zohan Mamdani (1:17)

He's too bad.

Kate Bullivant (1:18)

President Trump's former National Security Advisor John Bolton has been indicted on charges of allegedly mishandling classified information. News of the charges broke while the president was speaking to reporters in the Oval Office. An FBI investigation into Bolton began before Trump's return to the White House, with agents searching his DC office and home in Maryland back in August. Prosecutors said that Bolton shared more than a thousand pages of diary-like entries with two relatives, sometimes from his private email accounts, that contained classified information about his daily activities as National Security Advisor. A person familiar with the matter said the relatives were Bolton's wife and daughter. Bolton is also accused of unlawfully storing documents, writings and notes about national defence at his home. Bolton clashed with Trump over multiple foreign policy issues during an 18-month tenure in the president's first term and has been a critic ever since. Here he is speaking at Harvard University last month.

John Bolton (2:22)

Well, I think it's important to understand that Trump is an aberration in American politics. There has never been anything like this before and hopefully never will be again.

Kate Bullivant (2:32)

In a statement, Bolton described the charges as part of an effort to intimidate Trump critics and that he was looking forward to exposing Trump's, quote, abuse of power. He's just the latest prominent Trump critic to face prosecution. The Justice Department recently launched prosecutions against former FBI director James Comey and New York's Democratic Attorney General Letitia James after the president demanded them. Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro is moving military troops to the Caribbean coast and mobilizing what he says is a million strong militia in a show of defiance against the US. The strongman's regime has also cranked up its propaganda machine on state television, radio and social media amidst the biggest American military buildup in the Caribbean since the 1980s. It comes after President Trump authorized covert CIA operations in Venezuela and US strikes on boats operated by alleged drug traffickers that have killed at least 27 people in recent weeks. The Pentagon has also moved advanced weaponry, Navy warships, fighter jets and attack submarines to the area north of Venezuela, along with elite special operations forces. Zohan Mamdani and his rivals, former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa, traded barbs in the first New York mayoral election debate. The heated exchange touched on issues of affordability, public safety and their approach to President Trump. Here's Mamdani and Cuomo.

Zohan Mamdani (4:05)

I would make it clear to the president that I am willing to not only speak to him but to work with him if it means delivering on lowering the cost of living for New Yorkers. That's something that he ran his presidential campaign on and yet all he's been able to deliver thus far has been prosecuting his political enemies and trying to enact the largest deportation program in American history.

Donald Trump (4:26)

You know if you come after New York you know what I'm going to do, you know it's going to be ugly and you know my chances are almost 50-50 even though you're the president. I'd like to work with you. I think we can do good things together but number one I will fight you every step of the way if you try to hurt New York.

Kate Bullivant (4:46)

Sliwa, the Republican candidate, had to fight at times for a chance to speak as Mamdani and Cuomo went after each other with sharp criticism. That said, all three candidates agreed that they'd object to Trump sending National Guard troops to New York and all three also declined to endorse New York's Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul who is running for re-election. To New Jersey now, where a teenage girl is suing the developer of a clothed removal software after a real photo of her was allegedly transformed by a classmate into at least one fake nude image. The plaintiff is suing AI slash Robotics Venture Strategy 3 Limited, the company behind the web tool Cloth Off, which was allegedly used to generate the images. The lawsuit intends to compel the maker of Cloth Off to delete non-consensual images and remove its tool from the internet. The owners of Cloth Off didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. And President Trump has struck a deal to lower fertility medication costs and provide increased flexibility for employers offering stand-alone in vitro fertilization or IVF insurance. It's something the president raised on the campaign trail but falls short of his pledge that such treatments would be provided for free. EMD Sorono has agreed to offer consumers an 84% discount on certain fertility drugs, which will be made available via TrumpRx, a new government website. In exchange, the drug maker will be exempt from national security tariffs and will receive faster reviews from the Food and Drug Administration.