FBI Raids Home of Trump Critic and Former National Security Adviser John Bolton

The location of John Bolton, adviser-turned-outspoken professional of President Donald Trump, was raided by nan FBI connected Friday, Aug. 22.

NBC News reported that nan ambush of nan Maryland location was related to a “national information investigation successful hunt of classified records.” Some of nan documents are believed to person been leaked to news media.

FBI head Kash Patel seemed to reference nan ambush pinch a station connected X. He wrote, "NO ONE is supra nan law… @FBI agents connected mission."

Attorney General Pam Bondi reposted Patel, adding, "America’s information isn’t negotiable. Justice will beryllium pursued. Always."

When asked by reporters astir nan raid, Trump said, "I don't cognize astir it. I'm not a instrumentality of John Bolton. He's benignant of a low life. He's very bad astatine what he does... He's not a smart guy. He could beryllium very unpatriotic."

Bolton served arsenic Trump's nationalist information advisor from 2018 to 2019, aft antecedently serving nether President Ronald Reagan and President George W. Bush. However, by summertime 2019, nan brace had started to publicly disagree connected their messaging erstwhile it came to situations for illustration North Korea and Afghanistan.

Bolton resigned successful September 2019, though he and Trump told different stories astir really nan departure came about. Shortly aft leaving, he began shopping a memoir, The Room Where It Happened, astir his clip successful nan Trump White House.

Trump's Department of Justice attempted to artifact nan book; however, a judge ultimately ruled that he was capable to publish, contempt nan truth that he "likely published classified materials." 

At nan time, Trump said of Bolton and nan lawsuit, "He wasn't liked astatine each and wasn't respected very much, and arsenic we sewage to cognize him, he was respected little and less. Personally, I thought he was crazy."

Bolton was past called “irrelevant” in a statement from a Trump spokesperson aft criticizing nan president successful March 2022.

"John Bolton was fired because he believes thing little than warfare is not enough,” Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich said successful a connection to PEOPLE astatine nan time. “President Trump ensured bid during his management and ended wars, making Bolton irrelevant."

When he took agency for his 2nd word successful January, Trump further unopen nan doorway connected his master narration pinch Bolton by cutting disconnected his information detail. Bolton received accrued protection successful 2022 aft receiving decease threats from a member of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.

It's unclear if Bolton, 76, was location astatine nan clip of Friday's raid. As it was ongoing, he shared a caller NPR question and reply connected X criticizing Trump's latest mediation betwixt Russia and Ukraine.

"Russia has not changed its goal: resistance Ukraine into a caller Russian Empire. Moscow has demanded that Ukraine cede territory it already holds and nan remainder of Donetsk, which it has been incapable to conquer. Zelensky will ne'er do," Bolton wrote. "Meanwhile, meetings will proceed because Trump wants a Nobel Peace Prize, but I don't spot these talks making immoderate progress."

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However, nan ambush whitethorn not person travel arsenic a full surprise. In a March 2024 C-SPAN interview successful March 2024, Bolton warned that Trump's imaginable 2nd word would beryllium a "retribution presidency" successful which he would activity to get backmost astatine his perceived governmental enemies.

"The Constitution is really excessively absurd for Trump," he said. "You are pinch him aliases you are not pinch him. So, nan Justice will be, on pinch nan defense section and nan intelligence community, I think, base nan brunt of a batch of nan retribution presidency."