Weeks before the FBI raided John Bolton’s house, President Donald Trump made clear that his former national security adviser was a target of his second term.
Law enforcement agents raided Bolton’s home in Bethesda, Maryland and his Washington, D.C. office on Friday as part of an investigation related to classified documents, Vice President JD Vance confirmed. Bolton served as Trump’s national security adviser from 2018 to 2019 but has since become a vocal critic of the president.
On Friday, Trump said he wasn’t aware of the raids until after they happened. “I saw it on television this morning,” he said. The president added he “wasn’t a fan” of Bolton.
“My house was raided also,” Trump told reporters, referring to the FBI raid of his Mar-a-Lago compound in 2022. “So I know the feeling. It’s not a good feeling.”
But sources close to Trump toldThe Washington Post that the president was irked by Bolton’s critical comments ahead of his Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The president also publicly took issue with Bolton’s remarks, calling him “really dumb” in a Truth Social post on August 13 — raising questions over the timing of the raid, which occurred just nine days after the social media post.
The Independent has requested comment from the White House.
Earlier this month, Bolton accused Trump of running a “retribution presidency.” Since returning to the White House, Trump has targeted his so-called political enemies, including law firms, news organizations, former government officials, ideological opponents, and universities.
Bolton noted that Trump has “already come after me and several others,” alluding to the revocation of his security detail, which he received following threats against his life from Iran.
Bolton has yet to make a public statement following the raids.
Their public feud began to simmer during Trump’s first administration in 2019, when the president asked his national security adviser to resign, stating in a tweet that he “disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions.”
In 2020, Bolton released an explosive memoir, The Room Where It Happened, detailing his time working in the first Trump administration.
The Department of Justice launched a criminal investigation into whether Bolton disclosed classified information in his book and the administration tried to halt its publication, and a judge found in June 2020 that Bolton “likely jeopardized national security by disclosing classified information in violation of his nondisclosure agreement obligations.”
But the court did not block the book’s publication.
Both the lawsuit and criminal probe were dropped under the Biden administration.
Following the FBI raid, Vance hinted at a new law enforcement probe into Bolton that was in “the very early stages.” The vice president noted that classified documents are “certainly part of” that probe, but that “there’s a broad concern about Ambassador Bolton.”
FBI Director Kash Patel appeared to defend the raid, writing on X Friday morning that “NO ONE is above the law” and that FBI agents are “on mission.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi similarly remarked that “America’s safety isn’t negotiable. Justice will be pursued. Always.”
The investigation has sparked criticism from usually reliably supportive right-wing media outlets.
On Friday, panelists appearing on Fox News’ America’s Newsroom said they were “skeptical” of the FBI’s decision to execute the raid.
Chris Swecker, former assistant FBI director from 2004 to 2006, said that he had consulted with former agency colleagues about the raid.
“We’re looking at this a little bit skeptically because we were very heavily critical of the Mar-a-Lago raid. Just because you have the authority and discretion to do something like this, doesn’t mean you should,” he told Fox News.
Every federal search is predicated on an affidavit that shows probable cause that a crime has been committed and that evidence exists in a specific location, he said.
“We just don’t want to see the FBI weaponized for the other side, if you will, just turning the playbook over,” he added. “So, we’re anxiously awaiting the unsealing of that affidavit.”
Attorney and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley alluded to the “longstanding disagreement” between Trump and Bolton.
“There is a great concern about whether this is retaliation against a political opponent,” he said. “We just don’t know because we haven’t seen the warrant, we haven’t seen the affidavit.”
Other conservative media warned that the raid could signal Trump is using the FBI to exact political retribution. The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board said the raid reeks of political vengeance.
“It’s hard to see the raid as anything other than vindictive,” the editorial board wrote Friday. “Mr. Trump made clear that he was out for blood against Mr. Bolton when he pulled the former adviser’s protective detail after his re-election.”
Trump may hope that the raid leads Bolton to stop criticizing him publicly, the board suggested, adding that “the real offender here is a president who seems to think he can use the powers of his office to run vendettas.”
In August 2022, FBI agents raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach related to his handling of classified documents.
A federal grand jury indicted Trump on charges alleging he unlawfully withheld thousands of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago compound and then obstructed law enforcement’s attempts to retrieve them. A federal judge appointed by Trump dismissed the case, and special counsel Jack Smith withdrew his appeals after Trump won the 2024 presidential election.
