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The President's Daily Brief
PDB Afternoon Bulletin | October 17th, 2025: Bolton Indicted & Discord At The Pentagon
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Looking to diversify and protect your hard earned assets. Well, schedule a free consultation with the Birch Gold Group. They're the precious metals specialists. Just text PDB to 989898 and you'll receive a free no obligation information kit. And you'll learn how to convert an existing IRA or a 401k into a gold IRA. Again, text PDB to 989898. Foreign It's Friday, the 17th of October. Well, look at that. We've made it to the end of another week. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, former national Security Advisor John Bolton was indicted by a federal grand jury 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 US Military forces in Latin America will step down from his post before year's 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 Hegseth 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 adviser 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 Fahey, 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, Bolton abused his position as national security advisor by sharing more than a thousand 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 adviser 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 in another country. Others included intelligence on covert action planned by the US 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 Bondi 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 advisor continues to strike a defiant note on these 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 21 November. Bolton and his legal team continue to frame the case as a form of political retribution by Trump due to Bolton's long standing criticisms of his former boss. In a statement on Thursday, Bolton said, now I have become the latest target in weaponizing the Justice Department to charge those he deems to be his 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 US Military forces in Latin America, will step down from his post before years end, despite rising tensions with Venezuela. I'll be right back. 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It appears President Trump's cartel crackdown in Latin America 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 Exeth disclosed on Thursday that four star Admiral Alvin Halsey, 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 US And Venezuela's Maduro regime. In fact, according to a report from Reuters, it's the Trump administration's approach toward Venezuela and regional cartels that is prompting Halsey's early exit after less than a year on the job. Anonymous sources that spoke with Reuters claimed Holsey 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 Hegseth was preparing to fire him. Officially, however, Halsey's departure is being framed as a simple retirement. In a statement on X, Hegseth said, quote, on behalf of the Department of war. We extend our deepest gratitude to Admiral Alvin Halsey 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. Halsey also declined to give a reason for his retirement. In a statement, the four star admiral said, 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 Halsey'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 Halsey'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 war fighters. As we've been tracking. Earlier this month, the Trump administration sent a memo formally notifying Congress that the US 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, F35 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 PDB, three American B52 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 US 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 options range from letting them go, handing them over to another country for detention, turning them over to US 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 27 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 17th October. If you have any questions or comments, and I hope you do, please reach out to me@pdbhefirsttv.com and don't forget that a brand spanking new episode of our extended weekend show, the PDB Situation Report, airs tonight at 10pm on the 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 J. Smart reporting from Kiev, so tune in. I'm Mike Baker and I'll be back over the weekend with the PDB Situation Report. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool. Limu Emu and Doug Here we have the Limu Emu in its natural habitat, helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug. Uh, Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us? Cut the camera. They see us. Only pay for what you need@libertymutual.com Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty Savings Ferry Unwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and affiliates. Excludes Massachusetts.