FBI Searches Former National Security Adviser John Bolton's Home and Office in Classified Information Probe
On the morning of August 22, 2025, FBI agents executed court-authorized search warrants at the Bethesda, Maryland, home of former National Security Adviser John Bolton, in Montgomery County, and at his office in Washington, D.C. The searches were part of a criminal investigation into Bolton's handling of classified information. Bolton was not taken into custody that day and had not been charged with any crime.
The Associated Press reported that the search of the home began at about 7 a.m. and that Bolton was not at home at the time. After the search began, he was seen in the lobby of the Washington building where he keeps his office, speaking with two people wearing vests marked FBI. Searches of this kind require approval by a federal judge, and the warrant for the Maryland home was signed by a federal magistrate judge in Maryland.
The Justice Department offered no public comment on the searches that day. FBI Director Kash Patel posted on social media that morning that no one is above the law and that FBI agents were on a mission. Attorney General Pam Bondi shared the post, adding that America's safety is not negotiable and that justice will be pursued.
President Donald Trump told reporters that afternoon that he had not known about the search in advance, and noted that his own home had also been searched. Bolton served as national security adviser during Trump's first term, from April 2018 to September 2019. After leaving the post he became an outspoken critic of Trump, and he had fought the first Trump administration in court over his memoir.
No further details of the investigation were public as of that day, and Bolton did not publicly respond to the searches that day. Court filings made public later confirmed that FBI agents seized materials during the August 22 searches.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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