Tag: FBI

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents seized three computers, two iPhones, and multiple documents from the Bethesda, Maryland, home of former Trump national security advisor John Bolton on August 22, according to a report released Friday. The raid is part of an ongoing investigation into whether the infamous war hawk mishandled classified documents, including allegations he emailed sensitive files to family members via a private server.

The New York Post reported new details about the raid:

In addition to the high-tech hardware, agents confiscated two USB drives, a hard drive, four boxes of “printed daily activities,” “typed documents in folders labeled ‘Trump I – IV’” and a white binder labeled “statements and reflections to allied strikes,” according to an inventory made public Thursday.

The warrant also revealed that Bolton is being looked at for allegedly violating two sections of the Espionage Act of 1917 forbidding unauthorized possession or removal of national defense information, and another law preventing hoarding of classified files.

The investigation, which intensified under the Biden administration, also centers on personal emails allegedly obtained by a foreign government’s spy agency, according to people familiar with the matter cited by the New York Times. The emails reportedly contained classified information Bolton sent to close associates while gathering material for his 2020 memoir, “The Room Where It Happened.” The FBI’s search of Bolton’s home aimed to determine if he possessed materials that could verify the authenticity of the compromised emails.

During the Trump administration, the Justice Department initiated a criminal probe into whether Bolton mishandled classified material in his book. The administration also sued to delay the memoir’s publication. Although the book was released, a federal judge, Royce Lamberth, concluded that “Defendant Bolton likely jeopardized national security by disclosing classified information in violation of his nondisclosure agreement obligations.” However, Judge Lamberth declined to block distribution, noting, “the horse is already out of the barn,” as excerpts had been published and 200,000 copies had shipped.

The Times sources indicated that the information allegedly obtained by the foreign spy agency was not included in Bolton’s book. The investigation into Bolton reportedly stalled under Biden for reasons that remain unclear.

An FBI agent, speaking to the Post, criticized the pause, telling the newspaper, “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.”

The agent added, “That was a friendly administration to [Bolton]. 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, who has not been charged or arrested, denies any wrongdoing. If convicted on all potential charges, he could face up to 25 years in prison.