Federal agents searched the Maryland home of John Bolton, former national security adviser during President Donald Trump’s first administration, early Friday, according to two law enforcement officials.
“The FBI is conducting court authorized activity in the area. There is no threat to public safety. We have no further comment,” a spokesperson for the FBI’s Washington Field Office said.
A Department of Justice spokesperson declined to comment, but referenced Friday morning posts from FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“NO ONE is above the law…@FBI agents on mission,” Patel posted on X, to which Bondi replied: “America’s safety isn’t negotiable. Justice will be pursued. Always.”
Bolton came under investigation in Trump’s first term over a tell-all book about his time as national security adviser, which officials said revealed classified government information. The Justice Department sued Bolton in 2020 in an attempt to block publication of the book. But a judge rejected that effort while also publicly faulting the former national security aide for proceeding without final sign-off from the government.
DOJ also conducted a parallel criminal investigation into Bolton’s handling of classified information, but dropped the probe and the suit the following year, after President Joe Biden’s appointees took office.
After his time in government, the former Trump adviser became an increasingly strident critic of Trump, attacking his foreign policy and national security moves. Bolton was among a group of former officials whose security details Trump revoked on the first day of his second term, despite active threats on Bolton’s life from Iran.
A spokesperson and an attorney who represented Bolton in the earlier probe did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday. Representatives of the publisher of Bolton’s 2020 book, Simon and Schuster, did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
Eli Stokols contributed to this report.
