The FBI has raided the Maryland home of John Bolton, the former US national security adviser under Donald Trump who has since become one of the president’s sharpest critics.
Federal agents executed the search Friday morning at Bolton’s residence in Bethesda, on the outskirts of Washington, according to two people familiar with the matter. The FBI declined to comment, and Bolton’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for a statement.
The Associated Press reported the raid is tied to an investigation into the handling of classified documents. FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X around the time of the search: “NO ONE is above the law . . . @FBI agents on mission.”
Trump, speaking later in the day, said he had no prior knowledge of the raid. “Saw it on television this morning,” he told reporters. He dismissed his former adviser as “a low-life,” adding: “Not a smart guy, could be a very unpatriotic guy we’re going to find out.”
Bolton, a veteran foreign policy hawk and former US ambassador to the United Nations under George W. Bush, served as Trump’s national security adviser until September 2019. The two men parted on acrimonious terms, and Bolton has since been an outspoken critic of Trump’s foreign policy, particularly on Russia and Ukraine.
Just hours before the raid, Bolton posted on X that Trump was seeking a Nobel Peace Prize but that negotiations over the war in Ukraine showed “no progress.” He argued that Moscow remained determined to “drag Ukraine into a new Russian Empire” and that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would “never” agree to cede territory.
The search is likely to inflame partisan debate over the politicisation of the US justice system under Trump’s second administration. The president has filled senior law enforcement roles with loyalists, including Patel at the FBI and Attorney General Pam Bondi. Critics say this has deepened concerns about whether investigations are being used to target political opponents.
