The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | October 17th, 2025: Bolton Indicted & Discord At The Pentagon

Episode Date: October 17, 2025

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:  First—Former National Security Adviser John Bolton was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on 18 counts over his alleged mishandling of classified materials. I’ll have the details. Later in the show—in a surprise move, the Pentagon announced that the four-star admiral leading U.S. military forces in Latin America will step down from his post before the end of the year. The departure reportedly stems from mounting tensions with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth over the Trump administration’s approach to fighting cartels, and comes amid escalating tensions with Venezuela. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Goldbelly: Impress your friends and family. go to ⁠https://GOLDBELLY.com⁠ and get 20% off your first order with promo code PDB. Stash Financial: Don't Let your money sit around. Go to ⁠https://get.stash.com/PDB⁠ to see how you can receive $25 towards your first stock purchase. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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on Thursday on 18 counts over his alleged mishandling of classified materials. I'll have the details. Later in the show, in a surprise move, the Pentagon announced that the four-star admiral leading U.S. military forces in Latin America will step down from his post before years end, after only a short tenure in the role, less than a year. The departure reportedly stems from mounting tensions with Secretary of War Pete Hegset over the Trump administration's approach to fighting cartels and comes amid escalating tensions with Venezuela. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. Well, John Bolton is officially in legal trouble. The former national security advisor to President Trump,

was hit with a sweeping 18-count indictment on Thursday by a federal grand jury over his alleged mishandling of classified materials. That included eight counts of transmission of national defense information and 10 counts of retention of national defense information, all in violation of the Espionage Act. That's according to a report from Fox News. It marks the third time in less than a month that the Justice Department has brought criminal charges against current and former high-profile government officials, coming on the heels of the indictments of former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. But on the surface, at least, Bolton's case appears to be far more serious. Each of the 18 counts that Bolton is charged with are punishable

by up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted. Sources inside the Justice Department told Reuters that the case is viewed as much stronger than the ones against Comey, and James, and Jonathan Fayy, a former Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary under Trump, told Fox News that the indictment was, quote, far worse than expected. The blistering indictment states in part, quote, Bolton abused his position as national security advisor by sharing more than 8,000 pages of information about his day-to-day activities as the national security advisor, including information relating to the National Defense, which was classified up to the top secret SCI level. The indictment also says that Bolton unlawfully retained documents, writings, and notes

relating to the National Defense at his home in Montgomery County, Maryland. As a reminder, Bolton and his mustache burst back into the spotlight in August after the FBI raided his Maryland home in Washington, D.C. office. That raid stemmed from an investigation into the long-standing allegations that he used a private email server to send highly sensitive government information to family members, the material, which Bolton appears to have used to write his 2020 memoir, included classified documents linked to U.S. weapons programs, discussions with foreign leaders, and intelligence briefings. At least some of the information was reportedly transmitted or stored through Bolton's unsecured personal AOL account and was later intercepted in 2021 by a, quote,

cyber actor tied to the Iranian government. In total, prosecutors say Bolton shared more than 1,000 pages of information between April of 2018 and August of 2025 regarding his time as National Security Advisor during Trump's first term. Bolton reportedly shared the information with two close relatives, believed to be his wife and daughter. One document reportedly revealed intelligence about future attacks by an adversarial group at another country. Other included intelligence on covert action planned by the U.S. government, information about sensitive sources and methods, intel that a foreign adversary was planning a missile launch in the future, and intelligence on a foreign adversary's leaders, to name just a few examples. Those documents

were all classified as top secret. In a statement on Thursday, Attorney General Pam Bond, he said, quote, there is one tier of justice for all Americans. Anyone who abuses a position of power and jeopardizes our national security will be held accountable. No one is above the law, end quote. But the former national security adviser continues to strike a defiant note on the serious allegations against him. Bolton was spotted Friday morning, arriving outside a federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland, where he formally surrendered himself to authorities. He then pled not guilty to the charges before a federal judge, who released Bolton on his own recognizance and scheduled a hearing for the 21st of November. Bolton and his legal team continue to frame the case as a form of political retribution

by Trump due to Bolton's longstanding criticisms of his former boss. In a statement on Thursday, Bolton said, quote, now I have become the latest target in weaponizing the Justice Department to charge those he deemed to be as enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts. I look forward to the fight to defend my lawful conduct and to expose his abuse of power. President Trump, for his part, has not issued a formal statement about the charges, but when asked by a reporter on Thursday about Bolton's situation, he responded, quote, he's a bad guy. Coming up next, we learned that the Admiral, leading U.S. military forces in Latin America, will step down from his post before years end, despite rising tensions with Venezuela. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Host of the PDB and also known far and wide as a Gormand, which is a Gormand, which is a, you know,

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is sparking some dissension in the highest ranks of the Pentagon. In an announcement that took many by surprise, Secretary of Defense or Secretary of War, whichever you prefer, Pete Egsseth disclosed on Thursday that four-star Admiral Alvin Holsey, who leads U.S. military forces in Latin America as the head of U.S. Southern Command, known as Southcom, will step down from his post before the end of the year, more than two years ahead of schedule. The move, of course, comes as tensions continue to escalate between the U.S. and Venezuela's Maduro regime. In fact, according to our report from Reuters, it's the Trump administration's

approach toward Venezuela and regional cartels that is prompting Holsey's early exit after less than a year on the job. Anonymous sources that spoke with Reuters claimed Holesi has been clashing with Hegseth over ongoing operations in the Caribbean targeting suspected Venezuelan narco-trafficking boats, raising concerns about the overall strategy. Rumors then began swirling in the Pentagon earlier this week that Hegeseth was preparing to fire him. Officially, however, Holsey's departure is being framed as a simple retirement. In a statement on X, Hegeseth said, quote, on behalf of the Department of War, we extend our deepest gratitude to Admiral Alvin Holsey for his more than 37 years of distinguished service to our nation as he plans to retire at year's end. His tenure as military

deputy commander and now commander of U.S. Southern Command reflects a legacy of operational excellence and strategic vision, end quote. Holsey also declined to give a reason for his retirement. In a statement, the four-star admiral said, quote, it's been an honor to serve our nation, the American people, and support and defend the Constitution for over 37 years. The Southcom team has made lasting contributions to the defense of our nation and will continue to do so, end quote. But Holsey's exit has prompted concern among congressional Democrats who have questioned Trump's

legal justification for the military strikes on drug smuggling boats that first began in early September, calling it an abuse of Trump's executive powers. Senator Jack Reed, the senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Thursday, quote, Admiral Holsey's resignation only deepens my concern that this administration is ignoring the hard-earned lessons of previous U.S. military campaigns and the advice of our most experienced warfighters. As we've been tracking earlier this month, the Trump administration sent a memo formally notifying Congress that the U.S. is in an armed conflict with Latin American drug cartels, designating cartel members as unlawful combatants subject to the full force of the American military. The memo marked an unprecedented assertion of presidential war

powers that gives the White House more legal latitude to carry out military operations against the cartels. The Trump administration has rapidly built up military forces in the region, deploying guided missile destroyers, F-35 fighter jets, a nuclear-powered submarine, and around 6,500 troops as tensions with Venezuela intensify. Just this week, Trump officially authorized the CIA to carry out covert operations inside Venezuela, and as we discussed on today's BDB, three American B-52 bombers were spotted flying just off the coast of Venezuela earlier this week. Meanwhile, military operations against narco-trafficking vessels linked to the Maduro regime continue. On Thursday, according to sources that spoke with Reuters, the U.S. military carried out a strike

on another smuggling vessel in the Caribbean, killing two suspected traffickers. For the first time since September, however, the strike reportedly left two survivors who are now being held aboard a Navy ship. This will undoubtedly present some serious issues for the White House, specifically what to do with the two detained survivors. They can't hold them indefinitely on board the ship, so obviously. I Options range from letting them go, handing them over to another country for detention, turning them over to U.S. law enforcement, maybe placing them in Gitmo, and possibly trying them in a military court. The sources said the vessel that was hit was possibly a semi-submersible, as it appeared

to dip below water during the operation. A helicopter was then reportedly dispatched to apprehend the survivors, though I want to stress that the Pentagon has not yet commented on the reports. The White House has said previous strikes this year have killed 20, seven suspected narco traffickers. And it doesn't appear that the Trump administration has any plans to ease the pressure campaign against the region's cartels. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Friday the 17th of October. If you have any questions or comments, and I hope you do, please reach out to me at pdb at thefirsttv.com. And don't forget that a brand spanking new episode of our extended weekend show, the PDB Situation Report, airs tonight at 10 p.m. on the first

First TV. You can also catch it and past episodes on our YouTube channel. Check that out and hopefully subscribe. You'll find that on YouTube at President's Daily Brief and of course podcast platforms all over podcast land. This weekend's guests include the esteemed Buck Sexton from the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show. He's just back from Taiwan where he met and interviewed the Taiwanese president and other officials. And we've also got Jason Jay Smart reporting from Keeve. So tune in. I'm Mike and I'll be back over the weekend with the PDB's Situation Report. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.

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