FBI searches home of Trump adviser turned critic John Bolton

Myles Miller, Bloomberg News on Aug 22, 2025

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FBI agents searched the home of John Bolton, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, in a sign that the White House is stepping up a campaign of retribution against some of its fiercest critics.

The search is linked to an inquiry into whether Bolton retained or disseminated classified documents, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private information. In a social media post on Friday, FBI Director Kash Patel wrote “NO ONE is above the law.”

Trump denied knowing about the raid in advance, saying he first heard about it on television Friday morning and would probably be briefed later. He said he’s “not a fan of John Bolton.”

“I tell the group ‘I don’t want to know about this, you have to do what you have to do,’” Trump told reporters. “I could be the one starting it, and I’m actually the chief law enforcement officer, but I feel that it’s better this way.”

In Trump’s first term, prosecutors had investigated Bolton over his tell-all 2020 memoir, “The Room Where It Happened,” which detailed Bolton’s belief that Trump was unfit for the presidency. Trump accused Bolton of using classified information in the book and sued unsuccessfully to block publication.

“Washed up Creepster John Bolton is a lowlife who should be in jail, money seized, for disseminating, for profit, highly Classified information,” Trump posted after the book was published. Bolton argued at the time that he cleared the book with a senior career government official.

Bolton had escalated his criticism in recent days in response to the president’s decision to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Bolton’s repeated television appearances prompted Trump to write a social media post blasting the media for quoting “fired losers and really dumb people like John Bolton.”

Bolton didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. The New York Post reported earlier that his home had been raided.

Since Trump returned to office in January, the Justice Department has dismissed lawyers and staff connected to earlier criminal investigations of the president, while Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard fired or revoked security clearances for people linked to the probe into Russia’s bid to sway the 2016 election.

In the early days of his second term, Trump pulled the security details protecting Bolton and several other former officials who broke with the president. Bolton had been the target of an alleged assassination campaign by Iran over his role in the 2020 assassination of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qassem Soleimani.

In a recent interview interview with ABC News, Bolton was asked if he feared Trump might go after him. Bolton said the president had already done so.

“He’s already come after me and several others in withdrawing the protection that we had,” Bolton said. He called Trump’s leadership “a retribution presidency.”

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With assistance from Jamie Tarabay and Skylar Woodhouse.

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