The FBI raided the Maryland home of John Bolton early Friday morning, sending a clear message to one of Donald Trump’s loudest Republican critics.
Agents showed up at Bolton’s Bethesda home around 7:00 a.m. in what sources described as a “national security probe” tied to classified documents, according to multiple reports. Bolton was home at the time, but he wasn’t arrested.
A senior U.S. official told the Post that the investigation into Bolton “began years ago” but was “shut down for political reasons.” Now, it’s back—and apparently with force.
Just minutes after the raid began, FBI Director Kash Patel tweeted, “NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission.” Patel personally “ordered” the raid.
Bolton, who once served as Trump’s national security adviser, has become a fierce critic of the former president since leaving the White House. Their split was anything but friendly. Trump claimed he fired Bolton. Bolton pushed back hard, saying he quit and that Trump never asked for his resignation “directly or indirectly.”
Bolton hasn’t held back since. In a recent op-ed, he wrote, “Donald Trump’s chaotic national-security governance is in full flood… Chaos is embedded in his DNA and endemic in his team.” He also said Trump’s “mind is full of mush and he says whatever comes into it.”
Trump fired back on Truth Social just days ago, calling Bolton “stupid” and blaming him—along with others—for dragging out the Russia-Ukraine war: “Stupid people like Chris Murphy, John Bolton, and others, make it much harder to do so.”
For now, Bolton has not been charged. But with federal agents at his door and his name back in Trump’s crosshairs, the fight between the two is far from over.
