FBI searches former national security adviser John Bolton’s home in a probe to find classified records

Prior to the book’s publication, the Trump-era Justice Department sued Bolton arguing that he had violated prepublication review requirements by moving ahead without final written clearance — a process meant to ensure that no classified information was disclosed. Initially, the department sought to block the book’s release entirely.

When that failed, the administration continued its legal campaign, attempting to recover all profits Bolton earned from the book and claiming he had breached contractual obligations related to his security clearance. That effort also failed in court.

Bolton maintained that he had fulfilled his legal obligations and obtained a letter from a National Security Council official in September 2020 which said the book contained no classified material.

However, the White House later initiated a second review, led by a more senior official, which delayed publication. Bolton’s legal team argued that this additional review was politically motivated — a “transparent effort,” they claimed, to suppress politically damaging revelations about Trump’s conduct while in office.

A source close to Bolton told NBC News they believe the search on his home was in response to his frequent criticism of the Trump administration, including in his book.

“It’s retribution, pure and simple,” the source said.

Vice President JD Vance disputed the notion that the search of Bolton’s property was rooted in politics, telling NBC News’ “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker on Friday there were “broad concerns” about the former Trump official that extended beyond classified documents.

“Our law enforcement agencies are going to be driven by law and not by politics,” Vance said. “If we think that Ambassador Bolton has committed a crime, of course, eventually prosecutions will come.”

Asked about this morning’s search, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in an interview on Fox News that he did not believe the action was taken because of personal animus.

“So I don’t think this is retribution, I think this is accountability,” Comer said. “We’ll see if, for no reason, they raided his house just to embarrass John Bolton, like the Democrats did to President Trump at Mar-a-Lago, then I think that they should bear some criticism. But right now, I have confidence in Kash Patel, and I don’t believe he would do anything without having ample evidence to move forward.”

Trump told reporters during a visit to a museum in Washington, D.C., that he did not know about the search beforehand and would be briefed on the matter.

Earlier this year, just several days into the second Trump administration, the president canceled Bolton’s Secret Service detail, despite the fact that Bolton was the target of an alleged murder-for-hire scheme by a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

More recently, Bolton has been critical of Trump’s foreign policy, questioning his decision to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week and blasting members of the Trump administration this year for using a Signal group chat rather than secure government channels to discuss upcoming military strikes.

In 2022, Bolton even said he was “seriously considering” running for president in the Republican primary to prevent Trump from winning another term.