June 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, John Bolton, who has become a persistent ‌critic of the Republican president, is expected to plead guilty ‌over mishandling classified documents, CNN reported on Thursday, citing three sources familiar with the ​matter.

Bolton intends to plead guilty to one count of illegal retention of sensitive national security documents and has agreed to pay a more than $2 million fine, CNN reported.

Court records showed on Thursday that ‌Bolton was scheduled to ⁠appear in court to enter a new plea in the case on June 26. The records did ⁠not indicate how Bolton would plead.

He pleaded not guilty when he was first arraigned on October 17, 2025 on charges of mishandling ​classified information.

Bolton ​served as White House national ​security adviser during Trump's ‌first term, before emerging as one of the president's most vocal critics. Also a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, he described Trump as unfit to be president in a memoir he released in 2024.

The indictment of Bolton alleges that he shared ‌sensitive information with two of his ​relatives for possible use in a ​book he was writing, ​including notes on intelligence briefings and meetings with ‌senior government officials and foreign leaders.

The ​indictment, filed in ​federal court in Maryland, charged Bolton with eight counts of transmission of national defense information and 10 counts of ​retention of national ‌defense information, all in violation of the Espionage Act.

(Reporting by ​Bhargav Acharya and Ismail Shakil, Luc Cohen; Editing by ​Daphne Psaledakis and Doina Chiacu)