Trump’s First Administration Tried to Stop Bolton’s Memoir
Trump’s First Administration Tried to Stop Bolton’s Memoir

Trump’s First Administration Tried to Stop Bolton’s Memoir

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Diverging Reports Breakdown

John Bolton, former Trump official critical of president, has home searched

Bolton was named the third national security adviser of Trump’s high-turnover first administration. He advocated caution on the president’s whirlwind rapprochement with North Korea and against Trump’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria. Trump has repeatedly referred to Bolton as “one of the dumbest people in government” in multiple social media posts. Bolton’s book, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, was published Tuesday. He is a frequent presence on broadcast news channels, including CBC News Network, providing analysis. He spoke with The Current’s Matt Galloway in his first interview with CBC News in his 2020 book tour, which included an interview withCBC News Network’s Aarti Pole. The book is scheduled to be published by Simon & Schuster on September 7, 2019, and will be available in hard copy and e-book. It is available for pre-order now for $39.99. It can be pre-ordered for $49.99 on Amazon.com.

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Law enforcement personnel were spotted Friday outside the Washington-area residence belonging to longtime Republican figure John Bolton, a critic of President Donald Trump before and after spending 16 months in his first administration.

Footage from multiple U.S. media outlets, and a livestream from the website Lawfare, showed a presence of several vehicles, with some individuals wearing clothing with FBI logos, at the Bethesda, Md., residence.

Bolton was spotted Friday morning standing in the lobby of the Washington building where he keeps an office and talking to two people with “FBI” visible on their vests, according to the Associated Press. He left a few minutes later and appeared to have gone upstairs in the building, the AP reported.

“NO ONE is above the law … @FBI agents on mission,” wrote FBI Director Kash Patel, without mentioning Bolton, in an X post shortly after 7 a.m. Patel’s message was reposted by a White House account, as well as by Attorney General Pam Bondi.

From left to right, national security adviser John Bolton, secretary of state Mike Pompeo and president Donald Trump are shown at the White House on Feb. 7, 2019. Bolton would be cast out of the administration seven months later. (Andrew Harnik/The Associated Press)

The Justice Department had no official comment to the Associated Press.

Bolton, 76, served in the administration of George W. Bush as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Earlier in his career, he served in various capacities in the Republican administrations of George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan.

Trump, at an event in Washington, D.C., on Friday morning, told reporters he was not aware of any investigation beyond media reporting.

“He could be a very unpatriotic guy. We’re going to find out,” said Trump.

Judge rebuked Bolton in book battle

Bolton was named the third national security adviser of Trump’s high-turnover first administration, serving from March 2018 to September 2019.

“I disagreed strongly with many of his suggestions, as did others in the Administration,” Trump said upon Bolton’s departure. Since then, he has repeatedly referred to Bolton as “one of the dumbest people in government” in multiple social media posts.

WATCH l Bolton’s analysis of recent Russia-Ukraine peace talks: CBC News Network’s Aarti Pole speaks with Former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton CBC News Network’s Aarti Pole speaks with Former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton

Inside the administration, per multiple reports and a book written by Bolton, he advocated caution on the president’s whirlwind rapprochement with North Korea and against Trump’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria. Bolton was also opposed to Trump’s plan, latter scrapped, to bring Taliban negotiators to Camp David to complete a peace deal in Afghanistan.

Trump’s White House in 2020 sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the publication of Bolton’s book, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, alleging it contained classified information and threatened national security. The government argued Bolton hadn’t sought the proper review process before the book published by Simon & Schuster went to the printing presses.

A federal judge said an injunction was warranted, but that “Bolton’s unilateral conduct raises grave national security concerns.” U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth wrote in his ruling that Bolton had subjected “himself to civil (and potentially criminal) liability.”

A few months after Lamberth’s ruling, a National Security Council government classification expert raised allegations that the process had been politicized, accusing White House aides of making false assertions that Bolton had revealed classified information.

Bolton is a frequent presence on broadcast news channels, including CBC News Network, providing analysis. This week, he gave his thoughts on the recent flurry of diplomatic talks concerning the Ukraine war involving Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Western leaders.

On his 2020 book tour, which included an interview with CBC News, he portrayed Trump as a distracted leader not concerned with the finer details of policy, and a president who favoured a transactional, personal approach with foreign leaders.

LISTEN l Bolton with CBC in 2020 on Trump’s unique dealings: The Current John Bolton on Trump & Trudeau, Huawei and the president’s bid for re-election U.S. President Donald Trump tried to block its release, but former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s memoir, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, was published Tuesday. He spoke with The Current’s Matt Galloway in his first Canadian interview.

Retribution campaign promised

Trump himself was indicted over improper handling of classified information, and was alleged to have documents bearing top secret classifications at his Florida estate. But that investigation was stopped by a federal judge — originally appointed to the bench by Trump — and a planned appeal was essentially rendered moot by Trump’s election win last November.

Bolton and other first Trump administration officials saw their security clearances and Secret Service protection rescinded in January.

Patel, a vocal Trump supporter during the Biden presidency, denied having an “enemies list” in his Senate confirmation hearings earlier this year, despite having listed dozens of officials including Bolton under an appendix titled “Members of the Executive Branch Deep State,” in his 2023 book, Government Gangsters.

On the campaign trail, Trump promised a second administration that would include retribution, and law enforcement officials and legislators who have previously led or participated in investigations into Trump’s business and political activities are increasingly under scrutiny themselves.

Trump and Justice Department officials have alleged — in writing and public statements, though not through formal charges or presenting any evidence — that Letitia James, Adam Schiff and Lisa Cook have engaged in mortgage fraud.

James, New York state’s attorney general, oversaw a Trump civil fraud case, Schiff is a prominent Democrat who has publicly criticized Trump’s dealings with Russia and Ukraine, and Cook is a member of the Federal Reserve Board, whose decisions on interest rates have angered Trump.

Former FBI director James Comey, who was fired in 2017 just weeks after confirming an investigation was underway into Russian interference in the 2016 election, was questioned this year by Secret Service agents, ostensibly over a social media post.

The Trump administration announced this week that it would rescind the security clearances of 37 current and former national security officials, including some had worked on issues related to Russian threats to elections in 2016 and 2020, an issue that has long provoked Trump’s ire.

Trump has argued that the administrations of Barack Obama and Joe Biden were staffed with “deep state” actors who malignly investigated him. Democrats countered criticism of a “weaponized” Justice Department in the Biden administration by pointing to the fact that Democrats were indicted for alleged wrongdoing — including lawmakers Bob Menendez and Henry Cuellar, and Hunter Biden, the ex-president’s son.

Source: Cbc.ca | View original article

FBI searches home of Trump critic John Bolton reports say: Live updates

Bolton says he didn’t want his book to be released before the election. The FBI says it is conducting a court-authorized search of Bolton’s home. The search is part of an ongoing investigation into his book, “The Room Where It Happened” The book is about Bolton’s time in the White House, including his time as national security adviser to President George W. Bush. The book was published by Simon & Schuster, which also publishes “The Art of the Deal,” a book about the U.S. relationship with Great Britain. It is available in hard and paperback, as well as e-book, on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, with a price tag of about $35,000 for the book and $20,000 each for the e-books. For more information on the book, visit www.samaritans.org/book/the-room-where-it-happened-by-jennifer-bolton. For confidential support on suicide matters call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here. For support in the United States, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-

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WASHINGTON − FBI agents searched former national security adviser John Bolton’s house in suburban Maryland, in what the agency called a “court authorized activity” and critics of the administration called “vindictive” and “unnecessary.”

Bolton, who served in President Donald Trump’s first term, was previously investigated for allegedly including classified information in his 2020 book about the administration. But the Justice Department dropped that inquiry without charges.

Bolton has become a vocal critic of the administration’s foreign policy and called the president unfit to serve. Trump, who revoked Bolton’s security detail and his security clearance after returning to the White House this year, called Bolton a “lowlife” on Aug. 22 but said he didn’t know more about the search than what he saw on television.

The search was part of a national security probe ordered by FBI Director Kash Patel, according to the New York Post. CNN also reported the search. Follow along with USA TODAY for live updates.

Bolton in 2020: Trump efforts to block his book all about politics, not classified information

John Bolton said in a 2020 USA TODAY interview that then-President Donald Trump didn’t want Bolton’s tell-all memoir coming out before the November presidential election and that Trump’s effort to block its publication “has nothing to do with classified information.”

Bolton made the comments in a June 18, 2020, interview with USA TODAY’s Susan Page, referring to Trump’s accusations he had included classified information in his book, “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir.”

Trump’s Justice Department at the time started a criminal investigation and filed a federal lawsuit to block publication of Bolton’s $2 million book, alleging that it contained “significant amounts of classified information,” including some classified as “TOP SECRET.” The inquiry was dropped without charges.

“In my view, it was never my intention to disclose classified information. I had plenty to write about without doing that,” Bolton told Page at the time. As a result, he said, “I didn’t really feel I had to submit the book for pre-publication review for that reason, but I did out of abundance of caution.”

Bolton said he and his lawyer went through an arduous four-month classification review process and the government itself in its complaint agreed that there was no more classified information in the manuscript.

But then the Trump administration went back to do a second review, Bolton said, to “try and stretch out whatever they can.”

“I think the main thing that the president wants to avoid is the book coming out before the election. This has nothing to do with classified information,” Bolton told Page. “It’s the revelation about the president himself that bothers him. He’s not worried about foreign governments reading this book. He’s worried about the American people reading this book.”

–Josh Meyer and Susan Page

Vance says classified documents are part of Bolton inquiry

Vice President JD Vance said “classified documents are certainly part of” the search of Bolton’s house but federal authorities have broad concerns about the former national security adviser, in an interview with “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker.”

Vance said the investigation is “in the very early stages” and that if no evidence of crimes is found Bolton wouldn’t be charged.

“Classified documents are certainly part of it, but I think that there’s a broad concern about, about Ambassador Bolton,” Vance told NBC.

Vance denied Bolton was targeted because he is a critic of the administration.

“We are investigating Ambassador Bolton, but if they ultimately bring a case, it will be because they determine that he has broken the law,” Vance told NBC. “We’re going to be deliberate about that, because we don’t think that we should throw people even if they disagree with us politically, maybe especially if they disagree with us politically, you shouldn’t throw people willy-nilly in prison.”

–Bart Jansen

FBI confirms activity at Bolton house but doesn’t identify target of investigation

The FBI confirmed the activity around Bolton’s home but didn’t identify the target of the investigation before declining further comment.

“The FBI is conducting court authorized activity in the area,” the agency said in a statement. “There is no threat to public safety.”

John Bolton recently described Trump’s second term as ‘a retribution presidency’

Former Trump national security advisor John Bolton said Aug. 10 that he was worried about President Donald Trump’s vow to get revenge against him and other outspoken critics, describing Trump’s second term as “a retribution presidency.”

Trump was asked by ABC News’ Jonathan Karl ABC News “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” about what Karl described as “Trump’s retribution campaign we’re seeing at the FBI and the Justice Department.”

“You’re obviously on his enemies list. At least Kash Patel’s enemies list,” Karl said in reference to Trump’s FBI director. “Are you worried that they’re going to come after you in some way? I mean, he’s hinted at it before.”

“Well, I think he’s already come after me and several others in withdrawing the protection that we had for … the Iranians for the attack on Qasem Suleimani,” Bolton said. “So I think, and I said in the new forward to the paperback edition of my book, I think it is a retribution presidency.”

–Josh Meyer

FBI search ‘an obvious act of intimidation,’ says former Obama White House ethics czar

Former White House ethics czar Norm Eisen called the FBI action “an obvious act of intimidation,” and another example of the double standards President Donald Trump is applying “as he puts himself and his cronies above the law, and weaponizes it against his perceived enemies.”

Eisen, executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund and a former Obama administration ethics lawyer, said in a statement that the FBI action in “raiding the home of a high- profile critic in this way is an attack on the fundamental American right to disagree with the government.”

“If this President, who tramples on the Constitution and laws every day, is willing to abuse his power to go after his own former National Security Adviser, he can do it to anyone,” Eisen said in the statement co-written with Susan Corke, executive director of Democracy Defenders Fund.

“As prominent Republicans pointed out this morning, when the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago under the Biden Administration, it negotiated with President Trump’s team for a year beforehand,” Eisen and Corke wrote. “And his possession of those documents was defended by none other than his current FBI Director Kash Patel.”

–Josh Meyer

FBI search may be “a lawful search, but still completely unwarranted,’ former DOJ official says

Former senior Justice Department prosecutor Andrew Weissmann said the FBI action at John Bolton’s residence may be “a lawful search” but expressed concern that President Donald Trump is trying to equate it to the court-ordered search of his Mar-a-Lago residence in August 2022.

The Mar-a-Lago search warrant to find classified documents Trump took with him when leaving office in January 2021 “was necessary after repeated attempts verbally and through a subpoena to obtain the thousands of government documents being kept there,” said Weissmann, a lead prosecutor in Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“Only when that failed, was a search warrant required to be obtained and executed. So key issues will be what notice was given to Bolton, if any (my surmise is none at all), and the volume of alleged documents (if any),” Weissmann wrote on Substack.

“This may be, at the end of the day, a lawful search, but still completely unwarranted and inappropriate government activity,” Weissmann, a frequent critic of Trump, wrote. “Right now, we do not know enough facts, but I would worry about those who make it seem like this is just doing what the DOJ did with respect to the Trump compound in FLA.”

–Josh Meyer

Trump calls Bolton ‘lowlife’ but knows little about FBI search

Trump told reporters Aug. 22 that he knew little about the FBI searching Bolton’s home but that he is a “lowlife.” He said the Justice Department would probably brief him on the search.

“I’m not a fan of John Bolton,” Trump told reporters at The People’s House museum near the White House. “He’s a real, sort of a lowlife.”

Journalist livestreaming FBI Bolton raid, calls it ‘theatrical.’ ‘Doing it this way allows lots of pictures.’

Journalists and neighbors are lined up outside John Bolton’s home in Bethesda to watch – and livestream — the FBI search of the Trump critic’s home. One of them is Benjamin Wittes, the editor in chief of Lawfare, which has been critical of the Trump administration Justice Department.

Wittes was using his cameraphone and Substack journalism platform to livestream the action, available here.

Wittes “has been chronicling Trump’s acts of retribution on a near-daily basis,” according to CNN, which reported on Wittes’ livestream, calling the FBI action “theatrical” and noting that “doing it this way allows lots of pictures.”

–Josh Meyer

Attorney General Pam Bondi: ‘Justice will be pursued’

The Justice Department didn’t immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment on the investigation into Bolton. However, the department’s head, Attorney General Pam Bondi, re-posted FBI Director Kash Patel’s morning statement on X that “NO ONE is above the law.” Above that post, Bondi included a message of her own.

“America’s safety isn’t negotiable. Justice will be pursued. Always,” Bondi said above Patel’s message. She didn’t clarify what she was referring to.

– Aysha Bagchi

Bolton lawyer has claimed in the past his 2020 memoir contained no classified information despite White House claims

Charles Cooper, a lawyer who has represented Bolton in the past, was unavailable for comment on Aug. 22, a Cooper aide said.

But in 2020, when in news broke of Bolton’s forthcoming book, “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,” Cooper defended it against Trump White House accusations that it contained top-secret information.

“We do not believe that any of that information could reasonably be considered classified,” Cooper wrote in a letter to the White House, Axios reported at the time.

The White House had made public a Jan. 23, 2020, letter addressed to Cooper that claimed Bolton’s manuscript contains “significant amounts of classified information” that could “cause exceptionally grave harm” to U.S. national security, Axios said.

–Josh Meyer

Bolton faces ‘serious legal risk’ over book, but timing of search appears ‘vindictive’: expert

Mark Zaid, a national security lawyer who represents whistleblowers against the government, said in a social media post Aug. 22 that “there is serious legal risk for Bolton” from the dispute over his book.“But timing of this raid is highly – and I mean highly – suspicious,” Zaid said. “Looks like retaliatory, vindictive behavior.”–Bart Jansen

Trump administration has accused Bolton of using classified info in book

The Justice Department during Trump’s first term filed a federal lawsuit and started a criminal investigation into Bolton over allegations that the book, “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,” contained classified information.

“The United States seeks an order requiring Defendant to abide by his contractual and fiduciary duties to complete the pre-publication review process and not disclose classified information without written authorization, thereby protecting the national security of the United States,” according to the filing.

Bolton’s attorney, Chuck Cooper, called the lawsuit “a transparent attempt to use national security as a pretext to censor” Bolton.

A judge rejected the lawsuit’s request to block the book and the Justice Department dropped both the lawsuit and the criminal inquiry during the Biden administration.

The lawsuit filed in June 2020 alleged that Ellen Knight, the senior director for records access at the National Security Council, found “significant amounts of classified information” including some classified as “TOP SECRET,” in the $2 million book while reviewing it for publication.

But the lawsuit alleged that Bolton was frustrated with the pace of the review and chose to publish before waiting for it to be completed, despite having signed classified nondisclosure agreements.

Bolton had been targeted in Iranian assassination plot

Trump canceled Bolton’s security detail despite the discovery of an Iranian plot to kill him. A member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Shahram Poursafi, was charged in 2022 in a murder-for-hire plot targeting Bolton.The plot was in retaliation for a U.S. drone strike that killed Iran commander Qasem Soleimani in 2020 in Baghdad, according to Justice Department officials.

FBI Director Kash Patel: ‘NO ONE is above the law’

“NO ONE is above the law,” Patel said in a social media post Aug. 22 after the search began. “@FBI agents on mission.”

Bolton didn’t mention the search in a social media post Aug. 22 but said he didn’t see “any progress” in Trump leading peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

“Meanwhile, meetings will continue because Trump wants a Nobel Peace Prize, but I don’t see these talks making any progress,” Bolton said.

Bolton, a Trump critic, had said Putin ‘clearly won’ summit with Trump

Earlier, Bolton had told CNN after Trump met with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Aug. 15 that Putin “clearly won” the summit in Alaska.

“It’s far from over, but I’d say Putin achieved most of what he wanted,” Bolton said. “Trump achieved very little.”

Former FBI deputy director calls search ‘really stunning’ on CNN

Andrew McCabe, a former deputy director FBI, told CNN on Aug. 22 the search was “really stunning.” McCabe said there were reasons to look at the search “with a jaundiced eye” because of what might have motivated the search warrant.

“I don’t think many people saw this one coming,” McCabe said. “There is this very fraught relationship between the two, and the President’s history of going after people, using the level, the levers of power that he has access to, particularly the Department of Justice, to go after people he doesn’t like.”

Source: Usatoday.com | View original article

Kellyanne Conway’s Trump-Hating Ex Stars in FBI Raid on John Bolton

There is no way of knowing what is going to happen in the next few weeks. The next few days will be a whirlwind of activity for the team as they try to find out what happened. The team will be competing against each other to see who can do the most damage. They will also be competing with each other for a chance to win a $1.5 million prize for their best shot at the big prize. The competition will begin on August 22 and end on August 23. The winner will be announced on August 24. The race will be held at the University of California, Los Angeles, on the campus of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) on August 25. The final game will take place on August 26. The first game will be played at 8 p.m. ET at Caltech’s campus in Los Angeles. The second will be shown on the Caltech campus on August 27 at 8:30 p.M. ET. The third and final game is held on August 28 at the same time at the Cal Tech campus in San Diego.

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The FBI’s Friday dawn raid on former national security advisor John Bolton’s house had a surprise guest: George Conway, the ex-husband of Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway.

The raid, which comes after President Trump repeatedly denigrated Bolton on Truth Social this week, is said to be a continuation of a federal probe into Bolton’s potential mishandling of classified documents.

But Trump is unlikely to have been unhappy that one of his most public critics was offering live commentary on the raid.

George Conway stopped by Bolton’s house in the middle of the FBI raid. He says Bolton should be held accountable if he is illegally storing classified documents “the way Trump should have” during his Florida case. He has not recently spoken to Bolton. pic.twitter.com/UelZr06cVl — Phillip Nieto (@nieto_phillip) August 22, 2025

Conway spoke to a Daily Mail reporter and said that he lives in the ritzy Bethesda neighborhood, where FBI agents converged on the Bolton household Friday morning.

Conway said that if Bolton has classified documents, he’ll have to be held accountable—and took a shot at the president in the process.

“I mean, if he’s got classified documents, my view is, well, he has to answer for that if he’s got them—the way Trump should have,” Conway said.

George and Kellyanne Conway in 2017, after President Trump’s first inauguration. The high-powered political couple split up in 2023. JOSHUA ROBERTS/REUTERS

The president was indicted in 2023 for allegedly storing thousands of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, but the case was scuttled when a Trump-appointed judge ruled that the appointment of special counsel Jack Smith was unconstitutional.

“On the other hand, if it’s just about harassing [Bolton] because he said uncomplimentary things about Trump, many of them in his book about Trump’s mental capacity and ability to understand foreign affairs and very simple things, that’s not legit,” Conway added.

“That would seem to be the real concern Donald Trump has since he clearly doesn’t care about what’s classified and what’s not.”

A photo released by federal prosecutors of boxes worth of documents in one of the ballrooms at Mar-a-Lago. John Bolton is allegedly being investigated for mishandling classified documents, the same offense Trump was charged with in 2023. Getty

Bolton did not seem to be at home during the raid, which came 30 minutes before the former Trump official further criticized the president’s Russia-Ukraine negotiations.

The mustachioed foreign policy hawk served as national security advisor from April 2018 to September 2019, after spending years as a paid contributor for Fox News.

NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission — FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) August 22, 2025

FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X that “NO ONE is above the law,” while Deputy Director Dan Bongino wrote that “Public corruption will not be tolerated.”

In his memoir, which the first Trump administration tried to block from publication, Bolton wrote that Trump was “unfit” to be president. He also wrote that it was “almost inevitable” that Trump would “favor Moscow” in negotiations with Ukraine if he were reelected.

Bolton appeared on The Daily Beast podcast on Monday and said Trump is “the world’s worst negotiator.”

Conway said he knows Bolton but hasn’t spoken to him recently, and that he’s driven past the area of the raid “thousands” of times.

He has been critical of Trump since 2018, when he declined to accept a DOJ job because he said the first administration was “like a s–tshow in a dumpster fire.”

His growing criticism of Trump and involvement with the anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project came as his wife became a leading voice in the first Trump White House.

Conway left the Trump White House in 2020, but has continued to speak in support of him, for instance at the Republican National Convention last year. Mike Segar/REUTERS

Kellyanne Conway originated the Trumpian phrase “alternative facts” to describe the president’s dubious claim that his 2017 inauguration drew the largest crowd in history.

When the couple divorced in 2023, President Trump congratulated his former advisor on Truth Social, calling her ex-husband a “wacko” and an “extremely unattractive loser.”

George and Kellyanne’s daughter, Claudia, posted a series of viral TikTok videos in 2023 criticizing her parents and Trump although appears to have reconciled with both of them.

On X, Conway renamed himself George “Action News” Conway and posted memes of himself live streaming. He also took a shot at Laura Loomer, the MAGA firebrand who insulted his appearance, saying, “Forgive me Laura Loomer, but if I ever decide to go to a plastic surgeon, it won’t be yours!”

Source: Thedailybeast.com | View original article

Donald Trump Reacts to John Bolton’s FBI Home Raid

President Donald Trump denied having knowledge of the search of John Bolton’s house. The FBI on Friday searched Bolton’s Maryland home and Washington office as part of a renewed investigation into the alleged mishandling of classified information from his 2020 memoir. Bolton, a hawkish figure who frequently clashed with Trump during his first term and later became one of his fiercest critics, was not detained or charged. The dual search warrants, however, signaled a sharp escalation in a case once thought closed. The searches are reportedly tied to renewed concerns that Bolton’s memoir may contain classified material. The Justice Department declined to comment, but FBI Director Kash Patel, a longtime Trump ally, wrote on X: “NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission.” Attorney General Pam Bondi echoed the sentiment, posting: “Justice will be pursued. Always AlwaysBolton’s representatives have not responded to requests for comment, and a former lawyer for him declined to discuss the raid. The raid is also reportedly linked to renewed speculation that Bolton may have mishandled classified material from his memoir, The Room Where It Happened.

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Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.

President Donald Trump denied having knowledge of the search of John Bolton’s house, after federal agents searched the former national security adviser’s Maryland home early Friday morning.

Speaking to reporters in Washington, D.C., Trump said he had intentionally avoided learning about the raid beforehand.

“I know nothing about it. I just saw it this morning. I tell Pam [Attorney General Pam Bondi], and I tell the group, I don’t want to know about it. You have to do what you have to do,” Trump said.

Why It Matters

The FBI on Friday searched Bolton’s Maryland home and Washington office as part of a renewed investigation into the alleged mishandling of classified information from his 2020 memoir, The Room Where It Happened, a source told the Associated Press.

Bolton, a hawkish figure who frequently clashed with Trump during his first term and later became one of his fiercest critics, was not detained or charged. The dual search warrants, however, signaled a sharp escalation in a case once thought closed.

President Donald Trump speaks at The People’s House museum in Washington, D.C., on August 22, 2025. President Donald Trump speaks at The People’s House museum in Washington, D.C., on August 22, 2025. Associated Press

What To Know

Trump, speaking to reporters during an unscheduled visit to the White House Historical Association, said he first learned of the raid on his former national security adviser’s home from television Friday morning and insisted he had no advance knowledge of it.

“He is not a smart guy. But he could be a very unpatriotic guy. We’re going to find out,” Trump said.

The president added that he expected to be briefed later in the day on the search of Bolton’s home and office.

“I’m not a fan of John Bolton. He’s really sort of a lowlife,” Trump continued, before suggesting he could have been behind the raid: “I could know about it. I could be the one starting it. I’m actually the chief law enforcement officer.”

After the search began, Bolton was seen speaking with FBI agents in the lobby of his Washington, D.C., office building before heading upstairs. Agents were later observed carrying bags through a back entrance.

Hours later, at the White House, Trump addressed reporters about the raid and sought to downplay his involvement, insisting that he tries to remain on the sidelines.

“I haven’t spoken to Pam and the group yet but I will be. I saw that just like everybody else. I try and stay out of that stuff,” Trump said, framing himself as detached from the operational details. Despite noting his legal authority, he emphasized his choice not to intervene directly: “I’m allowed to be and I’m chief law enforcement officer, believe it or not…but I purposely don’t want to really get involved in it.”

FBI agents are seen outside John Bolton’s house, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, after the FBI conducted a court-authorized search at his place on August 22, 2025 in Bethesda, Maryland. FBI agents are seen outside John Bolton’s house, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, after the FBI conducted a court-authorized search at his place on August 22, 2025 in Bethesda, Maryland.

Trump also used the opportunity to go after Bolton, calling him a “sleaze bag” and accusing him of suffering from “major Trump derangement syndrome.” He argued that many others share that animosity toward him but claimed “they’re not being affected by anything we do.”

The Justice Department declined to comment. But FBI Director Kash Patel, a longtime Trump ally, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission.” Attorney General Pam Bondi echoed the sentiment, posting: “Justice will be pursued. Always.”

Bolton’s representatives have not responded to requests for comment. A former lawyer for him also declined to discuss the raid.

The searches are reportedly tied to renewed concerns that Bolton’s memoir may contain classified material. The Trump administration previously tried to block the book’s release and later filed a lawsuit to seize its profits.

That case ended in 2021, when the Biden administration dropped the suit and abandoned a related grand jury inquiry.

What People Are Saying

Attorney General Pam Bondi, on X: “America’s safety isn’t negotiable. Justice will be pursued. Always.”

Roger Stone, a longtime Trump ally, on X: “Good morning. John Bolton. How does it feel to have your home raided at 6 o’clock in the morning?”

Journalist and commentator Keith Olbermann, on X: “I don’t give a rat’s ass for John Bolton but this is a political act, not an investigatorial one.”

What Happens Next

As of Friday afternoon, no formal charges had been announced.

Update 8/22/25, 2:31 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.

Source: Newsweek.com | View original article

Trump–Bolton feud back in focus after FBI raid: ‘Never had a clue … what a dope!’

The FBI launched a raid Friday morning into the home and office of John Bolton. Bolton was President Donald Trump’s national security advisor from 2018 and 2019. The two men have a long history of trading barbs following Bolton’s exit from Trump’s first administration. Bolton sought to publish a memoir in 2020 that included some unflattering details about his time in the White House. The first Trump administration sought to block the release of Bolton’s memoir, “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,” and asserted it contained classified material. A federal judge signed off on the publication of the book, which ultimately was published June 23, 2020. While Bolton said that he left due to his own volition, Trump claimed that he fired Bolton. Trump told reporters Friday that he had no knowledge of the raid and learned about it watching TV.

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The FBI launched a raid Friday morning into the home and office of John Bolton — President Donald Trump’s national security advisor from 2018 and 2019 — months after Trump yanked Bolton’s security clearance in January upon taking office.

The two men have a long history of trading barbs following Bolton’s exit from Trump’s first administration — all of which escalated after Bolton sought to publish a memoir in 2020 that included some unflattering details about his time in the White House.

While Trump has labeled Bolton a “wacko” and a “dope,” Bolton has had his fair share of harsh words for the president.

“I don’t think he’s fit for office,” Bolton said in an interview with ABC News in June 2020, ahead of his memoir’s release. “I don’t think he has the competence to carry out the job.”

JOHN BOLTON’S HOME AND OFFICE RAIDED BY FEDERAL AGENTS

“There really isn’t any guiding principle that I was able to discern other than what’s good for Donald Trump’s reelection,” Bolton said at the time. “I think he was so focused on the reelection that longer-term considerations fell by the wayside.”

Bolton also characterized Trump as lacking focus on policy while being very fixated on himself — to the detriment of national security matters.

“His policymaking is so incoherent, so unfocused, so unstructured, so wrapped around his own personal political fortunes, that mistakes are being made that will have grave consequences for the national security of the United States,” Bolton also said in an ABC interview in June 2020.

The first Trump administration sought to block the release of Bolton’s memoir, “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,” and asserted it contained classified material.

The book alleged that Trump “pleaded” Chinese President Xi Jinping to support Trump’s reelection campaign, and called the president “stunningly uninformed.”

BIDEN DOJ DROPS LAWSUIT AGAINST JOHN BOLTON OVER 2020 BOOK RELEASE

While the Justice Department attempted to prevent its publication on the grounds that the book disclosed classified matters pertaining to U.S. intelligence sources and methods, a federal judge signed off on the publication of the book, which ultimately was published June 23, 2020.

Meanwhile, Trump discredited Bolton’s assertions included in the book, and hurled his own insults back at Bolton.

“Many of the ridiculous statements he attributes to me were never made, pure fiction,” Trump said in a social media post June 18, 2020. “Just trying to get even for firing him like the sick puppy he is!”

TRUMP REVOKES JOHN BOLTON’S SECRET SERVICE DETAIL AMID IRANIAN DEATH THREATS: FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR

“Wacko John Bolton’s ‘exceedingly tedious’(New York Times) book is made up of lies & fake stories. Said all good about me, in print, until the day I fired him,” Trump said in a separate social media post on June 18, 2020. “A disgruntled boring fool who only wanted to go to war. Never had a clue, was ostracized & happily dumped. What a dope!”

Bolton departed his post at the White House in September 2019. While Bolton said that he left due to his own volition, Trump claimed that he fired Bolton.

Bolton was not arrested or taken into custody following the raid on his home and office Friday.

Trump told reporters Friday that he had no knowledge of the raid and learned about it watching TV.

“He’s a, not a smart guy,” Trump said Friday. “But he could be a very unpatriotic. I mean, we’re going to find out. I know nothing about it. I just saw it this morning. They did a raid.”

Source: Foxnews.com | View original article

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/us/politics/trump-bolton-memoir-room-where-it-happened.html

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