FBI agents search ex-Trump adviser John Bolton’s home
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People standing outside the home of the former White House national security adviser John Bolton as it is being searched by law enforcement agents in the US on Aug 22.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON – FBI agents searched the home of Mr John Bolton – a former adviser to US President Donald Trump who has since become a persistent critic – on Aug 22 as part of a national security probe, a source briefed on the matter said.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents began searching his house in the Washington suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, at 7am as part of a probe ordered by FBI director Kash Patel, according to the New York Post, which first reported the raid.
An FBI spokesperson confirmed “court authorised activity” in the area of Mr Bolton’s home.
“NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission,” Mr Patel wrote, without mentioning Mr Bolton, in an X post shortly after 7am that was reposted by a White House spokesman.
Mr Bolton could not immediately be reached for comment. CNN reported that he said he was unaware of the law enforcement activity and was looking into it further.
It was not immediately clear why the FBI was searching the property.
Mr Bolton served as the US ambassador to the UN and as the White House national security adviser during Mr Trump’s first term in office. Since then, however, he has become a critic of the Republican President, calling him unfit to serve.
Mr Trump has repeatedly moved to wield the levers of presidential power against his perceived enemies since taking office in January, following his campaign promise of political retribution.
The Justice Department during Mr Trump’s first term sued and started a criminal investigation into Mr Bolton over allegations that the book, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, contained classified information.
A judge rejected the administration’s bid to block publication of the book in 2020.
Both the criminal investigation and lawsuit were dropped in 2021 during the Biden administration.
The US President previously stripped Mr Bolton of the protective Secret Service detail that had been assigned after the Justice Department said Iran had threatened his life.
Mr Bolton has continued his criticism of Mr Trump since he returned to office.
After Mr Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week, Mr Bolton told CNN that Mr Putin “clearly won” the summit and while Mr Trump “did not lose” he looked “very tired” and there was no meaningful progress on ending the war in Ukraine.
Mr Bolton has also been critical of Trump-nominated FBI director Patel, telling NBC’s “Meet The Press” in December that the Senate should reject his nomination “100-0”, before Mr Patel was later confirmed. REUTERS
