The images on news networks on Friday were of an ongoing FBI raid at the Bethesda, MD home of John Bolton, former national security adviser for Donald Trump, and a frequent commentator and critic of the president’s foreign policy.
The AP and other outlets, quoting unnamed sources, said that the raid was part of an investigation into the handling of classified documents.
FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X, “NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission.”
Bolton has not yet commented. Earlier this morning, he posted on X of Trump’s efforts to bring to a close the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Bolton wrote, “Russia has not changed its goal: drag Ukraine into a new Russian Empire. Moscow has demanded that Ukraine cede territory it already holds and the remainder of Donetsk, which it has been unable to conquer. Zelensky will never do so. Meanwhile, meetings will continue because Trump wants a Nobel Peace Prize, but I don’t see these talks making any progress.”
On CNN, anchors noted that the search got a sign off from a federal judge. But with few details of the reason for the search, some commentators raised concerns over the targeting of Trump’s perceived enemies. Patel had previously listed Bolton on a list of members of what he called the “executive deep state.” Democrats highlighted the list in their opposition to Patel’s confirmation as FBI director.
Shortly after taking office in his second term, Trump removed Bolton’s security detail, something that he had had because of threats from Iran, per CNN. Reporters gathered outside the home, along with podcast streamers. Ben Wittes, author of the Lawfare site.
“The timing of this is chilling,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), said of the search on CNN. He noted Bolton’s criticism of Trump, including that he “practiced obstruction as a way of life.”
In 2020, after Bolton left the Trump administration and published his boo, The Room Where It Happened, the Justice Department sued over its publication. Federal officials claimed that Bolton failed to complete a review process to edit out classified information. But the DOJ dropped the lawsuit the following year, and Bolton’s attorney, Charles Cooper, said that criminal grand jury proceedings also were ended.
“We argued from the outset that neither action was justifiable, because they were initiated only as a result of President Trump’s politically motivated order to prevent publication of the Ambassador’s book before the 2020 election,” Cooper said at the time.
