FBI agents searched the home of John Bolton, a former adviser to US President Donald Trump turned persistent critic, yesterday 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 authorised activity” in the area of Bolton’s home in the Washington suburb of Bethesda, Maryland.
An FBI spokesperson 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 specialises in national security.
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