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A federal grand jury in Maryland indicted former national security adviser John Bolton on 18 counts yesterday over his handling of classified information. Bolton is expected to surrender to authorities as soon as today.
The charges trace back to Bolton’s time working for President Donald Trump (April 2018 through September 2019) before Trump fired him amid foreign policy disagreements. In 2020, following the publication of Bolton's memoir, the Justice Department began investigating notes Bolton allegedly wrote in an AOL email account while at the White House. The department under President Joe Biden dropped the investigation, but Trump’s DOJ revived it earlier this year. In August, FBI agents raided Bolton’s Maryland home and DC office, where they allegedly recovered hundreds of pages of classified information, including documents related to weapons of mass destruction. Bolton also stands accused of sharing classified information with his wife and daughter.
Read the 26-page indictment here. |
China clarified its new export restrictions on rare earths yesterday, saying the measures are aimed at preventing the illegal export of critical minerals for military use, particularly in weapons of mass destruction, rather than imposing a full ban. China said civilian exports will continue under license, rejecting President Donald Trump's claim that the move violates a trade truce.
In response, Trump has threatened 100% tariffs on Chinese imports. China's restrictions, applying to all countries, will take effect in stages beginning Nov. 8. China dominates the rare earths industry, controlling roughly 70% of mining, 90% of processing, and 93% of magnet manufacturing. The $6.4B global market—projected to nearly double by 2035—underpins production of semiconductors, electric vehicles, industrial robots, and other technologies. They are also critical for US defense systems, including F-35 jets, drones, and radar.
The move comes before Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet in South Korea later this month. |
Bidding opened yesterday for the solution to the final encrypted message of Kryptos, a sculpture installed at CIA headquarters in 1990. The auction house expected $300K to $500K—until two men discovered the message last month.
Professional and amateur cryptographers decrypted three of Kryptos' four puzzles within a decade, but the final remained unsolved (see here). Seventy-nine-year-old sculptor Jim Sanborn recently decided to auction the fourth solution to cover medical expenses and support charities. However, the projected hammer price has been thrown into doubt after two journalists found the 97-character decrypted message on scrap paper accidentally filed in the Smithsonian’s public Archives of American Art. Neither man plans to publish the solution, but both declined Sanborn’s offer of payment for their silence and dismissed legal threats from the auction house.
Sanborn previously released clues to the fourth puzzle and has said a fifth message will emerge once the original four are solved. The auction closes Nov. 20. |
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Sports, Entertainment, & Culture |
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Southern Gothic: Tomorrow's 1440 Society & Culture email explores the life and works of famed author Flannery O'Connor. Subscribe here to receive! |
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> President Donald Trump says he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest in the coming weeks; announcement comes after the leaders engage in a roughly two-hour phone call ahead of Trump's meeting today with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (More) |
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