An FBI search at the residence of former National Security Advisor John Bolton was reportedly connected to accusations that he used a personal email server to transmit sensitive information to his relatives.
Bolton, who has since publicly criticized Donald Trump after being dismissed from the White House during Trump’s first term, was home during the early morning 7 a.m. search at his house near Washington D.C., according to a knowledgeable source.
A senior U.S. official informed the New York Post that the search, ordered by FBI Director Kash Patel, was part of a reopened inquiry into Bolton sending private national security documents from work to his wife and daughter.
He is accused of sending these documents shortly before Trump dismissed him in September 2019. The investigation persisted after Trump’s term but was halted by the Biden administration.
A senior U.S. official conveyed to the Post that Bolton was allegedly ‘illegally transferring classified materials, involving family as intermediaries’ while employed there.
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 contacted Bolton’s representative for a statement. As of Friday evening, Bolton has not issued a formal response or spoken publicly about the matter.
The ex-Trump adviser turned acidic critic returned to his home in Bethesda, Maryland Friday evening, nearly eight hours after the FBI raided the property.
The Friday morning FBI raid on the home of ex-National Security Advisor John Bolton was linked to allegations he used a private email server to send sensitive, classified documents
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
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.
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.
FBI Director Kash Patel (pictured center) appeared to publicly address the raid on Friday
‘My house was raided also… So I know the feeling. It’s not a good feeling.’
The Daily Mail spoke with one of Bolton’s self-described ‘nosy’ neighbor’s.
As agents ransacked the house, Bolton’s neighbor Holly asserted that karma had caught up to the polarizing national security official.
‘If he would have testified in the first impeachment hearing, maybe we wouldn’t be here,’ Holly told the Daily Mail while grinning.
A probe into Bolton was first launched in 2020, but an administration official tells the Daily Mail that it was quashed during President Joe Biden’s administration for ‘political reasons.’ Patel’s FBI has reopened the high-profile case.
Once privy to some of the most classified information in the world, Trump’s Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard stripped Bolton of his security clearance.
Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security adviser from April 2018 until September 2019, has been at odds with Trump ever since parting with the first administration.
President Donald Trump reacted to the Bolton drama by comparing the raid his Mar-a-Lago property endured in 2022
One of the anti-Trump protesters outside Bolton’s home said they disagree with Bolton’s politics but will still defend him from Trump
He regularly appears in TV interviews criticizing Trump’s national security strategy and foreign policy.
And in response, Bolton has become one of the former officials that the president has taken aim at since getting back into office this year.
Trump slammed his former aide as a ‘lowlife’ and ‘not a smart guy.’
‘He doesn’t talk, he’s like a very quiet person except on television and then he can say something bad about Trump. He’ll always do that. But he doesn’t talk, he’s very quiet,’ Trump told reporters.
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.
