'Revenge tour': Murdoch paper delivers stern 'warning' to anyone working for Trump

On Thursday afternoon, October 16, a federal grand jury in Maryland indicted former National Security Adviser John Bolton on 18 criminal counts for allegedly mishandling government documents. The indictment follows the recent grand jury indictments of two other Donald Trump foes — former FBI Director James Comey and New York State Attorney General Letitia James — in cases being prosecuted by Trump loyalist and interim U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan.

In a blistering editorial published the evening after Bolton was indicted, the Wall Street Journal's conservative editorial board attacked the indictment as politically motivated.

The board wrote, "Opposing Donald Trump is a perilous business, but working for him can be equally as dangerous. That's one lesson from Thursday's indictment of Mr. Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton for mishandling classified documents. A federal grand jury in Maryland indicted Mr. Bolton on eight counts of transmitting national defense information and 10 counts of retaining such information."

In response to the editorial, the Daily Beast's Ewan Palmer stresses that one of the Journal's big takeaways from the indictment is that people working for Trump are putting themselves at risk for criminal prosecutions if he ever turns against them the way he turned against Bolton.

Palmer noted that the "Rupert Murdoch–owned Wall Street Journal" had "blasted Donald Trump's revenge tour" and "issued a warning to others who dare disagree with the president."

"In a scathing editorial," Palmer observes, "the paper's editorial board said there is 'little doubt' retribution motivated Bolton's indictment over allegations he mishandled classified documents."

Read the full Wall Street Journal editorial at this link (subscription required) and the Daily Beast's analysis here (subscription required).