WASHINGTON: The FBI on Friday searched the Maryland home and Washington office of former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton as part of a criminal investigation into the potential mishandling of classified information, a person familiar with the matter said.
\nBolton, who emerged as an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump after being fired in 2019 and fought with the first Trump administration over a scathing book he wrote documenting his time in the White House, was not in custody Friday and has not been charged with any crimes, said the person who was not authorized to discuss the investigation by name and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
\nThe searches, seemingly the most significant public step the Justice Department has taken against a perceived enemy of the president, are likely to elicit fresh concerns that the Trump administration is using its law enforcement powers to target the Republican\u2019s foes. They come as the Trump administration has moved to examine the activities of other critics, including by authorizing a grand jury investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe that dogged Trump for much of his first term, and as FBI and Justice Department leaders signal their loyalty to the president.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters during an unscheduled visit to the White House Historical Association, Trump said he had seen news coverage of Friday\u2019s searches and expected to be briefed about it by the Justice Department but also insisted he didn\u2019t \u201cwant to know about it.\u201d
\n\u201cI could know about it. I could be the one starting it. I\u2019m actually the chief law enforcement officer. But I feel that it\u2019s better this way,\u201d Trump said.
\nBolton had said in interviews this year that he was mindful that he could be scrutinized, telling the AP in January shortly before Trump took office, \u201cAnybody who ever disagrees with Trump has to worry about retribution. It\u2019s a pretty long list.\u201d
\nAn FBI search like the one at Bolton\u2019s properties requires authorization from a federal magistrate judge. It wasn\u2019t immediately clear what information authorities submitted to demonstrate that they had probable cause of a crime, though the Justice Department years ago launched an investigation into whether Bolton improperly disclosed classified information in a book manuscript he had written. The inquiry was later closed.
\nVice President JD Vance denied in an NBC News interview on Friday that Bolton was being targeted because of his criticism of Trump, \u201cIf there\u2019s no crime here, we\u2019re not going to prosecute it. If there is a crime here, of course, Ambassador Bolton will get his day in court. That\u2019s how it should be.\u201d
\nBolton was in his office building at the time
\nBolton was not home for the search of his home, but after it started, he was spotted Friday morning standing in the lobby of the Washington building where he keeps an office and talking to two people with \u201cFBI\u201d visible on their vests. He left a few minutes later and appeared to have gone upstairs in the building. Agents were seen taking bags into the office building through a back entrance.
\nMessages left with a spokesperson for Bolton were not immediately returned, and a lawyer who has represented Bolton had no immediate comment.
\nThe Justice Department had no comment, but leaders appeared to cryptically refer to the searches in a series of social media posts Friday morning.
\nFBI Director Kash Patel, who included Bolton on a list of \u201cmembers of the Executive Branch Deep State\u201d in a 2023 book he wrote, posted on X: \u201cNO ONE is above the law\u2026 @FBI agents on mission.\u201d Attorney General Pam Bondi shared his post, adding: \u201cAmerica\u2019s safety isn\u2019t negotiable. Justice will be pursued. Always.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Justice Department is separately conducting mortgage fraud investigations into Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought a civil fraud lawsuit against Trump and his company, and ex-Trump prosecutor Jack Smith faces an investigation from an independent watchdog office. Schiff and James have vigorously denied any wrongdoing through their lawyers.
\nThe Bolton searches also unfolded against the backdrop of a 2022 search for classified documents at Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, an action that produced since-dismissed criminal charges but remains the source of outrage for the president and supporters who insist he was unjustly targeted despite the retrieval of top-secret records.
\nPatel said in a Fox Business Channel interview this week that the Mar-a-Lago search represented a \u201ctotal weaponization and politicization\u201d of the bureau, and Trump himself referenced it on Friday, telling reporters: \u201cI guess his house was raided today, but my house was raided, also.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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