Federal agents descended on the Maryland home and Washington, D.C. office of John Bolton, former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, on Friday, August 22, 2025, executing a court-authorized search in a move that has sent shockwaves through Washington’s political landscape. The operation, confirmed by the FBI, is part of a renewed investigation into whether Bolton mishandled or disclosed classified information, particularly in connection with his 2020 memoir, The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir, which drew the ire of Trump and sparked controversy across the political spectrum.
According to CNN, FBI personnel arrived at Bolton’s residence in the Washington, D.C. area early Friday morning. Witnesses saw four to six agents entering the home, some carrying bags from their vehicles. Simultaneously, agents were observed at Bolton’s downtown D.C. office. The FBI’s presence was unmistakable, with agents wearing clearly marked jackets and several unmarked federal vehicles parked outside. While the FBI declined to comment on the ongoing investigation, the public nature of the search immediately fueled speculation about its motivations and broader implications.
The probe builds on long-standing accusations by Trump that Bolton may have mishandled classified records, especially during the writing of his tell-all book. Trump, who returned to office in January 2025, had previously revoked Bolton’s security clearance and, upon resuming the presidency, stripped Bolton and other critics of their security details. The Justice Department had dropped an earlier investigation into Bolton’s memoir after Trump lost the 2020 election, but the case was reopened following Trump’s return to power, according to The Hill and CNN.
Bolton, a veteran of multiple Republican administrations and a longtime foreign policy hawk, became one of Trump’s most outspoken critics after being ousted as national security adviser in 2019. His memoir painted a damning portrait of Trump as “stunningly uninformed” on foreign policy and governance. Trump responded by attempting to block publication, claiming the book contained “significant amounts of classified information” and violated a nondisclosure agreement. Although a federal judge declined to block the memoir’s release, he remarked that Bolton had “likely published classified materials” and had “gambled with the national security of the United States.”
Bolton, for his part, insisted that the push to suppress his book was not about protecting intelligence but about concealing its unflattering depiction of Trump ahead of the 2020 election. “He’s already come after me and several others in withdrawing the protection that we had,” Bolton told ABC News in a recent interview, calling Trump’s leadership “a retribution presidency.”
As news of the FBI search broke, Trump denied advance knowledge of the raid, telling reporters, “I don’t want to know about it. It’s not necessary. I could know about it. I could be the one starting it, and I’m actually the chief law enforcement officer. But I feel that it’s better this way.” He did not mince words about Bolton, describing him as “a real sort of lowlife” and “not a smart guy.” Trump’s animosity toward Bolton is well documented; after the publication of Bolton’s memoir, Trump posted on social media, “Washed up Creepster John Bolton is a lowlife who should be in jail, money seized, for disseminating, for profit, highly Classified information.”
The FBI’s actions drew immediate and heated reactions. In a cryptic post on social platform X, FBI Director Kash Patel declared, “NO ONE is above the law…@FBI agents on mission.” The message, though not explicitly naming Bolton, was widely interpreted as a reference to the ongoing operation. Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino echoed the sentiment, stating, “Public corruption will not be tolerated.” These unusually public statements from top FBI officials prompted criticism from former bureau leaders. Andrew McCabe, a former deputy director of the FBI, told CNN, “This is not the kind of thing that any FBI director has ever done. FBI directors don’t gratuitously point toward search warrants and the people who are targets of those warrants.” Former FBI agent Phil Andrew added on NewsNation, “It is odd and way out of the FBI’s natural practice for the FBI director to be commenting on this on Twitter as a raid is taking place…It’s unprecedented. We don’t see directors, we don’t see agents talking about investigations.”
The search has inevitably drawn comparisons to the FBI’s controversial review of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in early August 2025, which sought to recover classified materials. In that case, agents secured a warrant after repeated unsuccessful attempts to retrieve records from Trump’s presidency, ultimately uncovering 300 documents marked classified. Patel, now FBI director, previously denounced the Mar-a-Lago search as “unlawful” and “a total weaponization and politicization by the FBI and DOJ.” Bongino, too, lambasted the agency’s actions at the time, calling the FBI “a fully now corrupt organization” that “needs to be disbanded.”
Despite the political firestorm, Vice President JD Vance pushed back against claims of partisanship, telling Meet the Press that while “classified documents are certainly part” of the motivation behind the investigation, “there’s a broad concern about, about Ambassador Bolton.” Vance insisted the operation was “driven by the law and not by politics,” adding, “If they ultimately bring a case, it will be because they determine that he has broken the law…you shouldn’t throw people willy-nilly in prison.”
The renewed scrutiny of Bolton is just one facet of what many perceive as a broader campaign of retribution by Trump’s administration against political adversaries. The White House has reportedly stripped security clearances and details from several former officials who broke with Trump, and the Justice Department has initiated investigations into other prominent critics, including former Homeland Security official Miles Taylor and former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency chief Christopher Krebs. Both had publicly criticized Trump’s leadership and questioned the integrity of his administration.
Bolton, who has faced assassination threats from Iran due to his hawkish stance, has not commented publicly on the recent search. His attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The FBI, meanwhile, has maintained its silence regarding the specifics of the investigation, leaving the public and political observers to parse the significance of the high-profile raid and its potential implications for the ongoing battle over classified information and political loyalty in Washington.
As the dust settles from Friday’s dramatic events, the search of John Bolton’s home stands as a stark reminder of the deep divisions and enduring tensions that continue to shape American political life in 2025.
