It’s official.
Justice Department documents confirmed Thursday that the Trump administration has opened a federal criminal investigation into John Bolton, President Trump’s former national security advisor, over alleged mishandling of classified information.
FBI agents executed a search warrant at Bolton’s Maryland home late last month, seizing multiple cell phones, two USB drives, a hard drive, documents labeled “Trump I–IV,” and a binder titled Statements and Reflections to Allied Strikes. The warrant states the investigation focuses on possible violations of the Espionage Act, which criminalizes the unauthorized retention or transmission of defense-related materials.
While no charges have been filed, the probe is active, and the Justice Department is reportedly withholding much of the case file to safeguard national security interests.
The investigation into Bolton, 76, was revived under new FBI Director Kash Patel, who has openly criticized the Bureau’s previous leadership. Officials say the case was quietly shelved during the Biden administration and allege that Bolton smuggled sensitive files out of the White House during his time as Trump’s national security adviser by emailing them to relatives through a private server.
As The New York Post reports, “If tried and convicted on all counts, Bolton could face up to 25 years behind bars.”
Now, Trump’s Justice Department is questioning whether the Biden FBI’s decision not to pursue the case against one of the most staunch Trump foreign policy critics was politically motivated.
“The [Biden administration] had probable cause to know that he had taken material that was detrimental to the national security of the United States, and they made no effort to retrieve it,” a senior FBI official told The Post shortly after the raid.
“That was a friendly administration to [Bolton],” the official further alleged. “They kept bashing [Trump] the entire time for ‘weaponizing law enforcement,’ and they — by politically stopping a righteous investigation — are the ones who weaponized law enforcement.”
Bolton has since returned to his home and maintained an active presence on X attacking the president’s maneuvers on the world stage.
Bolton’s memoir The Room Where It Happened came under fire for allegedly including top secret content. When he submitted the manuscript for mandatory pre-publication review in December 2019, a senior National Security Council official flagged “significant amounts of classified information.” Bolton’s legal team rejected the claim, insisting the book contained no legitimately classified material.
In response, the Trump-era Justice Department filed an emergency lawsuit in June 2020 to block publication and attempted to seize Bolton’s $2 million book advance. The government argued he had breached his nondisclosure agreement by moving forward without full clearance. Federal Judge Royce Lamberth allowed the book’s release but criticized Bolton’s decision not to wait for final approval.
As of now, Bolton has not been charged. But the scope of the search and the statutes cited suggest the government is pursuing the matter with utmost seriousness.
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Good then prosecute after