FBI agents raid John Bolton’s residence in Washington DC as part of a classified documents investigation (Reuter)
Dramatic events were afoot when FBI agents raided John Bolton's home on Friday morning in Bethesda, Maryland. Sources tell Associated Press that this action, beginning at about 7 a.m., was in connection with a federal investigation into the handling of classified documents.
Adding to the curiosity surrounding the raid was the involvement of Kash Patel, a former Trump administration official-turned-current FBI director. Shortly after the search commenced, Patel put out a message on X: “NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission.”
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His comments were at the same time news of the raid was spreading through other media contending the operation had political and legal undertones.
John Bolton had served Donald Trump as his third national security adviser between April 2018 and September 2019 and has for quite some time had a strained relationship with the former president. Trump, shortly after returning to office this year, revoked the security clearances of more than 40 former intelligence officials, including that of Bolton, in what was seen as a broad attempt to sever ties with critics inside the national security establishment.
The FBI's action also comes in the context of the renewed criticisms from Bolton regarding U.S. foreign and economic policy. Just days earlier, he had been heavily critical of Trump's tariff policy toward India. In his statements, Bolton labeled Trump as an "aberrational president" and maintained that Washington's erratic approach to New Delhi was undermining relations between the two democracies.
In a scathing post on X, Bolton slammed Trump as a hypocrite for imposing a 25 percent penalty on India for its Russian oil import tariff while exempting China, an act, he argued, that could drive India into the "Beijing-Moscow axis." His commentary aligned with the ramp-up to Trump's high-stakes summit with President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska.
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The raid on Bolton highlights how document handling has remained a pivot point in U.S. politics. For Bolton, who has never held back from critiquing Trump's policies, the timing could not be any more critical. Whether this investigation leads to legal jeopardy or becomes another chapter in America’s polarized political drama is still to be seen.
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