FBI agents raided the Maryland home of former Trump national security adviser John Bolton as part of a revived classified documents investigation, according to reports on Friday.
Federal agents entered Bolton’s Bethesda, Md., residence around 7 a.m. in an operation ordered by FBI Director Kash Patel, according to a Trump administration official, The New York Post reported.
“NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission,” Patel wrote in a cryptic X post shortly after the raid began.
The probe, tied to Bolton’s handling of classified material, was first launched during President Donald Trump’s first term but was later shelved under the Biden administration “for political reasons,” a senior U.S. official said.
Bolton has long faced scrutiny over his 2020 memoir “The Room Where It Happened.” Trump sought to block its publication, claiming it contained national security secrets and violated a nondisclosure agreement Bolton signed while in office. The Justice Department opened an inquiry in September 2020, though no charges were filed.
The raid comes amid heightened efforts by Patel to root out misconduct within the federal government. Just a day earlier, Patel revealed newly declassified memos showing former FBI Director James Comey authorized classified leaks ahead of the 2016 election while denying it to Congress.
No other details about the Bolton raid have been released as of publication time.
Since leaving the administration, Bolton, a one-time ally who turned sharply critical of Trump, has frequently attacked the former president’s foreign policy decisions on cable news. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday from The Post.
Patel has pledged to expose corruption and cover-ups across federal agencies, and Friday’s raid underscores the growing list of high-profile figures now facing renewed scrutiny.
Newly declassified FBI memos suggest former Director James Comey authorized classified leaks to reporters before the 2016 election, contradicting his sworn testimony to Congress and intensifying scrutiny over how the bureau handled politically sensitive information.
The memos, involving former FBI general counsel James Baker and chief of staff James Rybicki, were discovered earlier this year by current Director Kash Patel. Initially redacted by the Justice Department, the passages were unsealed after Attorney General Pam Bondi intervened, officials said to Just the News.
One summary memo revealed that U.S. Postal Inspection Service agents concluded Baker disclosed classified material to The New York Times in October 2016 because he believed he was “ultimately instructed and authorized” by Comey. Baker said Rybicki delivered the order, which he understood came directly from Comey.
“These newly declassified memos show how former FBI leadership authorized classified leaks and withheld the truth from Congress and the American people,” Patel said. “Thanks to President Trump’s commitment to transparency, the cover-up is being exposed. The public deserves nothing less than full accountability.”
Bondi called the conduct “abhorrent” and has assembled a strike force to investigate. Her deputy, Harmeet Dhillon, said potential charges could include deprivation of civil liberties under color of government authority. Patel has also opened a broader criminal inquiry into a decade of intelligence abuses, treating the leaks as part of an ongoing conspiracy stretching from the Russia collusion probe to the Mar-a-Lago raid.
The stakes could be more than historical. Legal experts note the five-year statute of limitations for federal crimes can extend to 10 years for espionage-related leaks that harm national security or if part of an ongoing conspiracy.