The FBI carried out a raid Friday morning at the Bethesda, Maryland, home of former National Security Adviser John Bolton as part of an investigation into allegations that he transmitted highly sensitive classified documents to family members using a private email server.
The search, authorized by FBI Director Kash Patel, comes amid renewed scrutiny of Bolton’s handling of national security materials during his tenure in the Trump administration.
Bolton, who served as national security adviser from April 2018 until September 2019, was at home during the raid, according to sources familiar with the matter. Investigators are reportedly focused on documents he allegedly forwarded from his government email to his wife and daughter, raising concerns about unauthorized transmission of classified information. Officials said the actions are believed to have occurred shortly before Bolton’s dismissal in September 2019.
A senior U.S. official told the New York Post that Bolton “was literally stealing classified information, utilizing his family as a cutout” while he was still working in the White House, according to the Daily Mail. The investigation into Bolton’s conduct began in 2020 but was paused during the Biden administration. Patel’s FBI has now resumed the inquiry.
FBI Director Kash Patel addressed the raid publicly on social media, posting on X: “NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission.” The statement, made in the early morning hours, coincided with the deployment of federal agents to Bolton’s home and his office in downtown Washington, D.C.
During the raid, more than a dozen FBI agents were seen carrying boxes into and out of Bolton’s residence. Bolton returned to the home nearly eight hours after the operation began, briefly acknowledging reporters with a wave but declining to take questions.