The FBI reportedly raided the Maryland home of former national security adviser John Bolton on Friday, escalating a years-long inquiry into whether the outspoken Trump critic mishandled classified material, according to people familiar with the matter.
A spokeswoman for Bolton declined to comment. The onetime adviser, who frequently clashed with President Trump during his first term over policies toward Iran and North Korea, has remained one of the administration’s most persistent critics.
The Justice Department has revived questions that date back to 2020, when Trump-era officials sued Bolton and opened a criminal investigation into whether he unlawfully disclosed national security information in his memoir The Room Where It Happened, a book that leveled harsh personal criticisms at the president.
While officials dropped that lawsuit and the grand jury probe in 2021, the renewed search suggests that law enforcement has once again found reason to examine Bolton’s handling of classified material.
“NO ONE is above the law,” FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X at the time of the raid. Attorney General Pam Bondi, echoing the sentiment, stated, “America’s safety isn’t negotiable.”
Bolton, a veteran of Republican administrations, has described the earlier investigation as a misuse of government authority by Trump to protect his own image. But this time, the facts appear more directly tied to national security. One person familiar with the latest search said it stems from concerns that Bolton may have illegally possessed or shared classified information.
The administration has signaled a broader effort to ensure accountability within the intelligence community. On his first day back in the White House, Trump revoked the security clearances of dozens of former officials, including Bolton, and ended the former adviser’s security detail despite warnings of a credible Iranian assassination plot against him.
This week, the White House expanded those actions, revoking the clearances of 37 additional current and former officials.
National intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard defended the move, citing “failure to safeguard classified information” and the “politicization or weaponization of intelligence.”
She told Fox Business that entrenched “deep state actors” had politicized intelligence assessments, particularly those connected to Russia’s 2016 election interference and the push for Trump’s impeachment.
Bolton’s 2020 memoir, which became a bestseller, was the flashpoint for the earlier legal clash. Although an initial government reviewer cleared the manuscript, other senior officials later concluded it still contained classified passages.
The Justice Department sued just before its publication and soon launched a criminal investigation, even issuing subpoenas to Bolton and his literary agent.
The former adviser, unbowed, has continued to criticize the administration. On Friday morning he wrote on X that Trump’s outreach to Russia was more about optics than substance. “Meanwhile, meetings will continue because Trump wants a Nobel Peace Prize, but I don’t see these talks making any progress,” Bolton said.
President Trump, for his part, dismissed Bolton as a “fired loser” earlier this week, rebuking his remarks about last week’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “What’s that all about?” Trump asked in a Truth Social post, adding that journalists were “constantly quoting fired losers and really dumb people like John Bolton.”
The renewed federal scrutiny highlights a striking turn for Bolton: a former insider now facing the same national security standards he once helped enforce.
[READ MORE: Pam Bondi Consolidates Power in DOJ Rift Over Epstein Case As Bongino Sidelined]
