 "Former US National Security Adviser John Bolton speaks at a panel hosted by the National Council of Resistance of Iran – US Representative Office (NCRI-US) at the Willard InterContinental Hotel on August 17, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images North America/Getty Images via AFP)")
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided the home of John Bolton, who served as President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor in his first term, on Friday morning, according to The New York Post.
The newspaper reported that FBI agents arrived at Bolton’s house in Bethesda, Maryland, at 7 am in an investigation ordered by FBI Director Kash Patel.
The report described the case as a ‘high-profile national security probe’ and quoted a senior official as saying that it involved classified documents.
The raid coincided with a post by Patel on X in which he appeared to refer to it
This is a developing story. It will be updated as details emerge.
In 2020, Bolton published a memoir, ‘The Room Where It Happened’, and was Trump tried to stop its release by alleging that it contained classified information. His attempts to stop the release of the book failed at the time. Trump’s Department of Justice opened an investigation into the book in 2020.
In an apparent reference to that investigation, The Post cited a senior official and reported that the probe under which Bolton’s house was being raided “was first launched years ago, but the Biden administration shut it down ‘for political reasons’”.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsBolton was a security and foreign policy hawk who pushed for aggressive US involvement in West Asia and East Asia, particularly regarding Iran and Noth Korea. He also helped shape the administration’s policy on Syria at the time. But he fell out of favour with Trump and eventually resigned.
Bolton has since been a critic of Trump’s security and foreign policies, particularly his friendly relationship with Rusia and the position on the war in Ukraine.
Trump has never made any secret of his hatred for Bolton. In his first actions after taking office, Trump removed Bolton’s security detail that was provided to him over threats to his life from the Iranian regime.
In his second term, Trump and his officials have often threatened critics with retribution like arrests and investigations. He has arm-twisted law firms into making deals with him and has forced Paramount —the owner of CBS News— to pay him to avoid tussles. He has also threatened judges who have passed injunctions on his executive actions.