John Bolton ended his weekend-long silence after a Friday morning FBI raid at dawn, which didn’t deter him from continuing to criticize Donald Trump’s policies.
The president’s former National Security Advisor, now a ‘Never Trump’ TV commentator, had his residence searched by federal agents amid suspicions of using a private email server to send highly sensitive information.
Bolton, 76, briefly mentioned the search in a Monday morning op-ed in the Washington Examiner, criticizing Trump’s Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
‘President Donald Trump’s Ukraine strategy is just as incoherent now as it was last Friday when his administration executed search warrants against my home and office,’ he wrote.
He indicated that the meeting was a result of ‘Trump’s hasty attempts to resolve an extremely complex conflict over the past two weeks, which was a significant mistake.’
Bolton also slammed Trump for backing down on threats to sanction Russia if Putin didn’t agree to a ceasefire, calling it ‘a stunning about-face.’
He further ridiculed the outcome of the president’s summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which concluded with plans for a bilateral meeting between Zelensky and Putin.
‘None of this was realistic, and no meeting appears likely anytime soon,’ Bolton said.
John Bolton broke his weekend-long silence following a sunrise FBI raid Friday morning which didn’t stop him from continuing to slam the policies of Donald Trump
Bolton, 76, made only a brief mention of the search in a Monday morning op-ed that criticized Trump’s Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin
Bolton concluded that Trump’s ‘efforts over the last two-plus weeks may have left us further from peace and a just settlement for Ukraine than before.’
Trump’s advisor-turned-foe was home at the time of the 7:00 a.m. raid on his D.C.-area house, according to a source familiar.
A senior US official told the New York Post that the raid – ordered by FBI Director Kash Patel – was part of the revival into an investigation into Bolton sending private national security documents to his wife and daughter from his work account.
He allegedly did this just before Trump fired him in September 2019. The probe continued after Trump left office but was paused by the Biden administration.
Patel appeared to publicly address the raid on Friday, posting to X: ‘NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to a spokesperson for Bolton for comment. Bolton has not given a statement or made any comments to the press.
The ex-Trump adviser turned critic returned to his home in Bethesda, Maryland Friday evening, nearly eight hours after the FBI raided the property.
Bolton waved to the cameras but did not take questions from the press as he entered his house to greet his wife, who was visibly shaken by the federal dragnet.
Bolton further mocked the outcome of the president’s summit with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, which ended with plans for a bi-lateral meeting between Zelensky and Putin
Trump’s advisor-turned-foe was home at the time of the 7:00 a.m. raid on his D.C.-area house, according to a source familiar
Throughout the raid that started at 7 am ET, more than a dozen federal agents were seen carrying boxes in and out of his house. Other agents were spotted entering Bolton’s downtown Washington, D.C. office.
A source told the Daily Mail that Bolton was home when the raid commenced, but he wasn’t seen, making his exact whereabouts unclear.
Instead, cameras caught a glimpse of his distressed wife, Gretchen Smith Bolton, at the front door interacting with the federal agents on Friday morning.
Gretchen walked away from the door as agents entered the Bolton residence in Bethesda, which is one of the wealthiest cities in the U.S.
President Donald Trump reacted to the Bolton drama by comparing the raid his Mar-a-Lago property endured in 2022.
Speaking in the Oval Office, the president said he wasn’t involved in its execution, but quickly ripped into his nemesis.
‘I purposely don’t want to really get involved in it. I’m not a fan of John Bolton,’ he said.
‘My house was raided also… So I know the feeling. It’s not a good feeling.’
Bolton, who has since turned against Donald Trump after being fired from the White House in his first term, was home at the time of the 7:00 a.m. raid on his D.C.-area house, according to a source familiar
FBI Director Kash Patel (pictured center) appeared to publicly address the raid on Friday
During the raid, protesters affiliated with the anti-Trump group #NoKings showed up outside Bolton’s house.
A protester held a sign reading, ‘Trump uses FBI for vengeance.’
One of the demonstrators later told the Daily Mail they do not agree with Bolton’s politics, but will still defend him as he faces Trump’s FBI.
The raid on Bolton’s home comes after Hillary Clinton was investigated for her use of a private email server while Secretary of State – an issue that helped derail her 2016 election campaign.
