The FBI raided former national security adviser John Bolton’s home in Bethesda, Maryland, on Friday as part of a “national security investigation in search of classified records,” a source familiar with the matter confirmed to NBC News.
In a statement to NBC News, an FBI official said, “The FBI is conducting court authorized activity in the area. There is no threat to public safety.”
The agency declined to comment further on the raid. Bolton did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
In a post on X early Friday, FBI Director Kash Patel wrote, “NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino also appeared to refer to the raid in posts on X.
“America’s safety isn’t negotiable. Justice will be pursued. Always,” Bondi wrote early Friday.
“Public corruption will not be tolerated,” Bongino wrote.
The New York Post was the first to report news of the raid.
Bolton served during two Republican administrations, first as ambassador to the United Nations during George W. Bush’s administration and later as national security adviser to President Donald Trump for about a year and a half during his first term.
Trump and Bolton did not part ways amicably, with the president in 2019 claiming he fired Bolton and Bolton claiming that he offered to resign after a disagreement.
Despite his work in the first Trump administration, Bolton has emerged as a fierce critic of Trump after he left office the first time in 2021, even penning a 2020 memoir about his time in the administration.
Earlier this year, just several days into the second Trump administration, the president canceled Bolton’s Secret Service detail, despite the fact that Bolton was the target of an alleged murder-for-hire scheme by a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
More recently, Bolton has been critical of Trump’s foreign policy, questioning his decision earlier this month to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and blasting members of the Trump administration earlier this year for using a Signal group chat rather than secure government channels to discuss upcoming military strikes.
In 2022, Bolton even said he was “seriously considering” running for president in the Republican primary to prevent Trump from winning another term.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
