FBI agents search Trump critic Bolton's home in latest move against rival

FBI agents searched the home of John Bolton, a former adviser to US President Donald Trump turned persistent critic, on Friday in what a source familiar with the matter said was part of a national security probe.

The investigation is focused on the potential criminal release of classified information, the source added. An FBI spokesperson confirmed "court authorized activity" in the area of Bolton's home in the Washington suburb of Bethesda, Maryland.

An FBI spokesperson has also confirmed law enforcement activity at Bolton's Washington DC office.

Bolton, who served as the US ambassador to the United Nations and as the White House national security adviser during Trump's first term in office, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. CNN reported that he said he was unaware of the law enforcement activity and was looking into it further.

Bolton has called Trump unfit for office.

The search marks the latest instance of the Trump administration moving to wield the levers of government power against Trump's perceived enemies since taking office in January.

Trump has long complained that the Justice Department was wrongly used against him during his four years out of office, when he faced two federal criminal prosecutions for attempting to overturn his 2020 election defeat and for retaining classified documents after leaving the White House. The special counsel behind those cases dropped them after Trump's election, citing Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president.

Democratic former President Joe Biden also faced a federal investigation for mishandling classified documents, though the special counsel in that case declined to bring charges, saying Biden would have been hard to convict.

A federal magistrate judge would have to approve a search warrant, indicating that there is "at least some objective and legitimate" evidence of a potential crime, according to Bradley Moss, an attorney who specializes in national security.

"This is going to be political no matter what. This is a frequent, very public critic of the president," Moss said. "The question is, did he actually do something that warrants and justifies this or is this pure political retribution?"

Trump vowed during his presidential campaign to use the criminal justice system against his rivals, and since returning to power his administration has arrested the Democratic mayor of a New Jersey city, filed criminal charges against a Democratic US representative and started federal investigations into a Democratic U.S. senator, a Democratic state attorney general and just this week a governor of the Federal Reserve.

When asked about the raid, Trump said on Friday, "No, I don't know about it. I saw it on television this morning. I'm not a fan of John Bolton. He's a real sort of a low life.

"He could be a very unpatriotic guy. We're going to find out."

EARLY MORNING SEARCH

FBI agents began searching the house at 7am as part of a probe ordered by FBI Director Kash Patel, according to the New York Post. An investigation does not necessarily lead to criminal charges.

"NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission," Patel wrote, without mentioning Bolton, in an X post shortly after 7am.

Reuters video footage from the scene showed multiple people in FBI jackets walking in and out the front door of the home.

The Justice Department during Trump's first term sued Bolton and started a criminal investigation into him over allegations his 2020 book, "The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir," contained classified information. The book painted a scathing picture of Trump's first administration.

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.

Bolton denied the allegations and accused White House officials of acting improperly to block a critical account.

The president previously stripped Bolton of protective Secret Service detail that had been assigned after the US Justice Department said Iran had threatened his life.

Bolton has continued his criticism of Trump since he returned to office. After Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week, Bolton told CNN that Putin "clearly won" the summit and while Trump "did not lose" he looked "very tired" and there was no meaningful progress on ending the war in Ukraine.

Bolton has also been critical of Patel, the Trump-nominated FBI director, telling NBC's "Meet The Press" in December that the Senate should reject his nomination "100-0." Patel was later confirmed.