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The Situation Room

Mandatory Bible Study For Texas Students?; U.S. Official: Iranian Drone Strikes Vessel in Strait of Hormuz; John Bolton Pleads Guilty. Aired 10:30a-11a ET

Aired June 26, 2026 - 10:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[10:30:00]

KELLY HAYES, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND: And the national defense information at issue in this case was classified at the highest classification levels.

The document in count 12, for example, revealed intelligence about an adversary's plans for an attack conducted against U.S. forces in another country. It contained human intelligence using sensitive sources and methods, and it discussed a covert action program.

As Mr. Bolton admitted, he shared more than 1,000 pages of information about his day-to-day activities as the national security adviser, including information related to the national defense, with two individuals who neither had the security clearances nor the need to know that information.

And, remarkably, he did so using his personal e-mail account and nongovernment messaging applications. The mishandling of classified information can damage our relationship with allies. It can expose sensitive sources and methods, and it will -- can jeopardize the success of our covert missions.

One of the reasons why there are so many safeguards protecting national defense information is so that this sensitive information does not fall into the hands of our enemies. And that is exactly what happened here.

A cyber actor believed to be associated with the Islamic Republic of Iran hacked Mr. Bolton's personal e-mail account and gained unauthorized access to some of the classified and national defense information in that account.

This case is another example of how my office works with our law enforcement partners to ensure that justice is always served. I want to specifically thank Special Agent Jimmy Paul, our special agent in charge of our FBI's Baltimore field office, and his team for their work in this investigation.

I also want to thank the FBI's New York field office for its valuable assistance. The Department of Justice works hard every day to protect the people of the state of Maryland and the United States and to protect our national security. No one is above the law, and I hope that this prosecution sends a

clear message that we will vigorously investigate and prosecute individuals who violate our national security laws without fear and without favor, and we will bring wrongdoers to justice.

I will now turn the mics over to our partners at the Department of Justice's National Division -- National Security Division.

HAYDEN O'BYRNE, DEPUTY U.S. ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: Thank you, Kelly.

John Bolton held a number of positions of extraordinary public trust in the United States government, culminating in being the national security adviser to the president of the United States.

John Bolton betrayed that trust in extraordinary fashion by unlawfully retaining and unlawfully disclosing the information with which he was entrusted. Kelly provided a very good summary of that today for those of you that weren't in the change of plea.

And the United States will have more to say about that at sentencing. But today's plea should be a warning to anyone at any level of government that, if you leak America's secrets or if you mishandle them, the United States Department of Justice National Security Division and our U.S. attorney partners will be there to prosecute you.

My name is Hayden O'Byrne. I'm the deputy assistant attorney general of the National Security Division. I wanted to take a moment to thank the trial team and the trial attorneys that handled this.

Let me start. We have Garrett Coyle from the National Security Division, Tom Sullivan from the District of Maryland, Tanner Kroeger, a deputy chief in the Counter-Export Section and Counterintelligence Division at U.S. attorney's office, Christian Nauvel, the acting chief of that section.

And then let me also thank Scott Lara from the National Security Division, who worked extensively on this case as well.

Thank you very much, everybody. It's been a pleasure speaking to you and have a good day. Thank you.

QUESTION: Are you going to seek present time for Mr. Bolton?

HAYES: No questions today. Thank you.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: All right, "No questions today," she just said. That's Kelly Hayes, the U.S. attorney for Maryland, that we're watching.

Very dramatic, very important developments unfolding.

Katelyn Polantz, you were there. You were inside. What stands out to you the most?

Katelyn, I don't know if you can hear me, but what stands out to you the most, if you can hear me?

[10:35:04]

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: I can now. Sorry about that, Wolf.

That was the prosecutors leaving. They brought quite a crowd. There were about 10 people from the FBI and the Justice Department standing here outside of court. There were about 20 in the courtroom, showing how significant a case this was.

The U.S. attorney of Maryland, Kelly Hayes, a longtime career prosecutor, she spoke first, outlining what John Bolton is agreeing to as part of his guilty plea.

And, Wolf, quite an irony here in one of the things he's agreed to. It's that he agrees to perform 100 hours of community service to help the Trump administration, to work with the Justice Department to make sure they are remediating any national security spills.

So, John Bolton going to be assisting the administration, the Justice Department again, as a foremost authority on intelligence. Now, he is saying that he fully accepts responsibility for what he did here, what he's pleading guilty to, that retention of classified information or national security information.

Specifically what he's agreeing to, to the allegation, what he's saying he's guilty of, what he did, it was that he kept documents, his own notes that he had been handwriting and then typing up, sending them to himself, sending them to his wife and his daughter.

Those notes, they included information related to covert plans and intelligence that the United States was getting, things about foreign military leaders, intelligence about attacks against U.S. forces, also the attack plans of a foreign adversary.

That's the type of information that John Bolton not only was collecting while he was national security adviser, but then keeping in printouts and in his personal e-mail accounts, not government or secured e-mail accounts, after he left the Trump White House in 2019.

An important point too that the Justice Department made in court and that U.S. attorney Kelly Hayes also referred to is that he was then collecting those notes, keeping them, and on the day after he left the Trump administration in September of 2019, he had those notes, but he also had a literary agent, and that literary agent pitched him to a publisher, saying that John Bolton could have inside information and notes that he would be able to share, even quotes that he had recalled from his time in the Trump administration, that he could be writing a book.

He ultimately did write that book. And we learned in court his book advance was $1.5 million, and then he made even more money once that book went on sale. It was essentially a tell-all of his experience inside the White House, and he was quite at odds with President Donald Trump. Trump was very unhappy about the publication of this book. One part of

what he's agreed to in the sentence is to pay back $2.5 million in fines to the U.S. government. That very likely represents the amount that he was earning from that book.

So, this is all coming together in a very significant case and a major plea deal for John Bolton, one of the only senior ranking government officials at that level, at this level of intelligence ability of the clearance that he has. Quite significant for him to plead guilty to a felony charge of retention of national security information -- back to you.

BLITZER: A few other questions, Katelyn, jump out at me, but specifically the U.S. attorney in Maryland, Kelly Hayes, said, that Iran, Iran had actually compromised, had actually gone into Bolton's private e-mail account, and was able to access this very sensitive, highly classified information.

Is that new information, or did we know that?

POLANTZ: Wolf, that's information CNN had previously reported, based on our sources speaking to us about what happened here.

But this was the first time that I heard in court in any public record and from the U.S. attorney herself, that it was indeed an individual who was associated with Iran who hacked into John Bolton's personal e- mail account.

Whenever he discovered this, Bolton himself must have realized it, he sent one of his aides or assistants to inform the U.S. government that he believed he had been hacked. That's when they started looking and eventually figured out that he had information in his account, in his personal e-mail account, his Gmail, his AOL account, potentially even in text messages, that would have represented classified information he learned during his time in the Trump White House.

So, yes, they are confirming that that indeed was an individual associated with Iran that hacked John Bolton, and that now this is something that's bubbling up, where he realized it was a significant national security issue, and now he's willing to help the Justice Department with remediation of national security spillage, potentially in situations like that in the future.

BLITZER: And what also jumped out of me, Katelyn, and I was wondering, because he was holding highly classified, very sensitive information, as he now admits, illegally, but didn't President Trump have highly sensitive classified information that he kept at Mar-a- Lago inappropriately in the bathroom there?

[10:40:20]

And didn't Joe Biden have highly classified, sensitive information that he kept at his garage? Have officials from the Justice Department said anything about why they weren't necessarily charged, as Bolton has been charged? POLANTZ: Well, Donald Trump was charged with a very similar set of charges, these serious charges about mishandling of classified information, similar to what Bolton was facing, but, each case, it's very different.

In the Trump case, that would have been Donald Trump having boxes of documents with classified markings on them that were found at Mar-a- Lago. He was also charged with obstruction of justice. That case went away because a judge said that the prosecutors had brought it -- who had brought it were invalid, that they didn't have the authority to be prosecutors.

That was the special counsel, Jack Smith and his office. In the Biden situation, that's a little bit different as well. There was a special counsel that looked into that extensively. There had been documents recovered. And, sometimes, if someone finds documents after having a clearance and no longer working in the federal government, they give them back and don't face charges, like Bolton has and like Trump had.

In Biden's case, he had also been discussing things with a ghostwriter. The special counsel looked at that and ultimately decided not to charge him because of an analysis of the case. They thought that it wasn't something that they would want to put before a jury.

But those are very different than this. John Bolton, his case, it never really even got to the point where they were discussing exactly what would be in court that would be representative of that classified information, what they would need to tell the jury.

And so this is a plea deal coming not that long after he faced those charges about a year ago. And it is a plea for one count sentencing at a later date -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And very quickly, Katelyn, remind our viewers why the charges against Trump for holding classified documents at Mar-a-Lago were dropped.

POLANTZ: They were dropped because this Justice Department decided to drop them in the January 6 case against President Trump.

But in the classified documents case, they were thrown out by a judge in Florida who had been a Trump appointee. She looked at the special counsel's authority very closely and decided that the special counsel didn't have the authority to charge Donald Trump in that situation.

There was never any true analysis done by a judge on whether or not Donald Trump should face trial and whether those charges should stand. She wasn't looking at the meat of the charges. She was looking just at the special counsel.

In this case, very different thing. You saw those attorneys at the press conference. It was Kelly Hayes, the U.S. attorney, longtime career prosecutor here in Maryland, the National Security Division of the Justice Department. They're the ones that brought this case against John Bolton and earned the conviction here today.

BLITZER: All right, we will see what happens next.

Katelyn Polantz, excellent reporting. Thank you very, very much.

And we're going to have much more news, a lot of breaking news happening, right after a short break. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

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[10:45:27]

BLITZER: Happening now: The United Nations' mission to evacuate hundreds of ships stuck in the Strait of Hormuz is on pause right now, after the United States says Iran struck a vessel in that critical waterway.

The reported attack comes despite last week's agreement between Washington and Tehran. Iran has not claimed responsibility for the attack, but it came just hours after Iran's Revolutionary Guard warned that vessels -- warned vessels they would only be allowed safe passage through Iranian routes.

And that's a contradiction from what President Trump said, that the Strait of Hormuz is open and free. That's what he said.

Here with us now in THE SITUATION ROOM is CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier.

Kim, are you concerned this could jeopardize the entire ongoing nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and Iran?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: We're definitely seeing a lot of friction.

So far, the markets aren't reacting to it that much, but I think what we may be seeing is the distance between what Iranian negotiators were willing to promise and the reaction that the Iranians got when they got back home from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, other members, hard-line members of the regime.

And they are not ready to give up the control of the Strait of Hormuz, and they're signaling that. And this is something that we're going to see friction on and see them fighting for every step of the negotiations.

BLITZER: I just mentioned that the U.S. and Iran had contradicting state -- contradictory statements about the routes in the strait that would be allowed. The memorandum of understanding is reportedly -- purportedly only about a page-and-a-half.

Was a confrontation like this inevitable without a more detailed agreement?

DOZIER: Inevitable in that this was always going to be hashed out at the negotiating table. So we're just seeing the sort of larger drama playing out. And we're also seeing basically the Iranians trying to shape the

negotiations in terms of staking out some sort of control of that route that goes, that hugs the Iranian coast. Of course, the Omanis are trying to say that ships can go by the route that the -- where the U.S. was escorting people along the Omani coast.

Right now, if you are a ship owner, you're going to think twice about moving anywhere.

BLITZER: Yes, you certainly are.

Do you think we will ever see the Strait of Hormuz and indeed the Gulf region as a whole go back to the prewar status quo?

DOZIER: It is hard to see what is enough for Iran in terms of security guarantees for it to let go control of the route that hugs its route.

There is a form of managing waterways like this that is used off the coast of Singapore, that Oman has proposed something that would tell shipping companies that they can voluntarily give fees to help with environmental and safety controls of that water passageway.

That is not what Iran is proposing. And, so far, this is something that could head us back to confrontation militarily, but I think what we're also seeing is that Iran thinks that Trump doesn't want to go back to attacking Iran and they're calling his bluff.

BLITZER: So what do you think Iran's going to do now? Are they going to continue to go after ships trying to go through the Strait of Hormuz?

DOZIER: This friction is going to continue for some time unless somehow they get appeased in some manner, shape or form. Is it a negotiating tactic for the next round of meetings? There's no way to know.

BLITZER: I was speaking the other day with a high-ranking Arab Gulf official, a high-ranking one, who said the only way this is going to end is if the U.S. resumes high-level attacks, airstrikes against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran and destroys them.

Do you think that's going to happen?

DOZIER: Well, that is certainly a position of many Gulf officials, because what they're seeing right now is memorandum of understanding which has allowed Iran to think that it can continue with its ballistic missile production, its armed drone production.

It makes the Gulf countries feel unsafe, especially as there are reports that the U.S. is considering moving some of its military hardware west from its bases in the Gulf, leaving those Gulf countries to fend for themselves.

[10:50:05]

BLITZER: Yes, so let's see what happens. It's a sensitive, very delicate moment right now.

Kim Dozier, appreciate it very, very much.

And coming up here in THE SITUATION ROOM: Changes could be coming for more than five million students in Texas, five million, the Texas Board of Education for the entire state expected to pass a mandate requiring K-12 students to study Bible verses and Bible stories.

We're live with the latest developments on this debate. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: There's breaking news.

Very soon, the Texas Board of Education will vote on requiring all, yes, all public school students in the state of Texas to learn Bible stories and Bible verses. If passed, more than five million students must study Bible verses and stories as part of their K-12 curriculum.

And this comes on the heels of last year's law that requires all classrooms to display, all classrooms to display the Ten Commandments.

Let's go live right now to our senior national correspondent Ed Lavandera, who's in Dallas for us.

Ed, is this measure expected to pass?

And how are people reacting?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, that's a good question.

We're in the middle of the summer months. I'm not exactly sure just how many people are paying that close attention to what is happening in what is generally a rather obscure state board. It's the state Board of Education. This is a board with members that the Republicans, conservative Republicans, make up the majority of that board.

But there have been some intense debate throughout the week. Hundreds of people signed up for public testimony, some more public testimony expected here this morning. The meeting has now -- is now under way. So we're waiting to see exactly what this board is going to do.

But the way it stands right now, the possibility of what we could see are Bible stories infused into the new social studies curriculum. Supporters say that this is crucial to be able to properly teach the history of the United States within the context of Western civilization.

[10:55:16]

Critics say this is a clear violation of the separation, the constitutionally protected mandate of separation of church and state. This is some of the debate we have heard from people throughout the week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RABBI DAVID SEGAL, RELIGIOUS ACTION CENTER OF REFORM JUDAISM: The First Amendment does not permit the state to anoint one religious tradition above others. Texas students deserve an education that broadens their understanding of the world's religious tradition, rather than narrowing it.

If religious texts are included, they should reflect the diversity of our society.

SUSAN PEREZ, FOUNDER, CITIZENS FOR EDUCATION REFORM: Our nation wasn't founded on all religions, and we don't need to apologize for that. We don't have to incorporate every religious belief in our history or in our literary works, because our nation was founded on Judeo-Christian values.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: So, Wolf, right now, that meeting in Austin, Texas, is under way.

We expect a vote to happen on this curriculum here within the next couple of hours -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Ed Lavandera on the scene for us in Texas, we will stay in close touch with you. Thanks very much.

And here's what's coming up all new right at the top of the hour.

Happening now: A hearing is under way for the man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk, on the table, the removal of the death penalty.

And Wimbledon is hoping that fans will touch grass in New York. New York City, we're talking about. I will be joined by tennis great Andre Agassi on the unique experience that's about to unfold at Central Park.

And will the new stadium take my Buffalo Bills all the way? I will talk with one of the people behind the design of the new stadium.

That's all new in the next hour.

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