Federal agents took possession of several documents marked as “classified,” “confidential,” and “secret” from the office of ex-national security adviser John Bolton. This action was part of an investigation into whether Bolton improperly handled defense records, as revealed in court documents made public on Tuesday.
Among the seized items, the confidential documents reportedly pertain to weapons of mass destruction, national “strategic communication,” and the U.S. mission to the United Nations, as detailed by investigators in an inventory list of what was obtained during the late August search. The list did not indicate the dates of these documents. Along with the documents, the FBI also confiscated phones and computer equipment.
Many pages of the affidavit contain partial or complete redactions, leaving the precise contents of the documents or the reasons for their confidential, secret, and classified labels unclear.
Abbe Lowell, Bolton’s attorney, stated on Wednesday that the documents do not imply any wrongdoing. He mentioned that many of them are decades old, stemming from Bolton’s extensive career in the State Department, his time as an assistant attorney general, and as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
“An objective and thorough review will show nothing inappropriate was stored or kept by Amb. Bolton,” Lowell said.
Bolton was the national security adviser for 17 months during Trump’s initial term, often disagreeing with him on issues related to Iran, Afghanistan, and North Korea before being dismissed in 2019. He later criticized Trump’s foreign policy and governance in a 2020 book, “The Room Where it Happened,” portraying Trump as lacking foreign policy awareness.
The search warrant affidavit notes that a National Security Council official had examined the book manuscript in 2020, informing Bolton that it seemed to include “significant amounts” of classified information, some classified as top secret.
Bolton’s attorney said that many of the documents seized in August had been approved as part of a pre-publication review for Bolton’s book.
Bolton is the latest of Trump’s political adversaries to find themselves targeted by federal investigators. Prosecutors have also launched criminal inquiries into New York Attorney General Letitia James, California Sen. Adam Schiff and former FBI director James B. Comey.
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Riddle reported from Montgomery, Alabama.
