The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States has searched the home of John Bolton, a former national security adviser to President Donald Trump who later became a frequent critic.
News outlets reported on Friday that the raid was part of a national security probe into Bolton’s handling of classified information. Police cars were observed stationed outside Bolton’s home in the Washington, DC, suburb of Bethesda, Maryland.
“NO ONE is above the law,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a social media post on Friday that did not explicitly refer to Bolton but noted that FBI agents were “on mission”.
Trump, meanwhile, denied having any knowledge of the raid on Bolton’s home.
“No, I don’t know about it. I saw it on television this morning,” Trump told reporters, before adding: “I’m not a fan of John Bolton. He’s a real sort of a lowlife.”
But the raid on Bolton’s home comes as the Trump administration steps up threats and probes against rivals and critics.
Bolton served as a hawkish foreign policy adviser during several Republican administrations, including Trump’s first term in office. He was also considered a strong advocate for the US invasion of Iraq during the administration of former President George W Bush.
Nowadays, however, he often appears on US news shows to criticise Trump and his policies. In his memoir, The Room Where It Happened, Bolton also offered a scathing assessment of his time in the Trump White House.
“He couldn’t tell the difference between his personal interests and the country’s interests,” Bolton wrote of Trump.
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Trump, meanwhile, has criticised Bolton for his aggressive foreign policy stance. On Friday, he described Bolton as a menacing presence in meetings with foreign leaders.
“He really doesn’t talk. He’s quiet,” Trump said. “I’d walk into a room with him with a foreign country, and the foreign country would give me everything because they’d say, oh no, they’re going to get blown up because John Bolton’s there.”
The news agency Reuters reported that a spokesperson for the FBI had confirmed “court-authorised activity” on Friday in the area around Bolton’s home.
The Associated Press noted that Bolton was also seen on Friday in the lobby of a building where he works in Washington, DC. He was observed speaking with two people who had the label “FBI” on their vests.
The news agency said agents were then spotted taking bags into the building through the rear entrance.
This is not the first action the Trump administration has taken against Bolton. Trump cancelled Bolton’s security clearance in January, on his first day back in the White House.
Then, several days later, Trump revoked the security detail assigned to protect Bolton.
“I am disappointed but not surprised,” Bolton said at the time. For his part, Trump called Bolton a “very dumb person” and questioned why the former adviser would need government protection for the rest of his life.
This month, in an interview with ABC News, Bolton accused Trump of lashing out at his political rivals and leveraging the power of the government for punishment: “I think it is a retribution presidency.”
But on Friday, Trump repeatedly denied knowledge of the raid and credited his Department of Justice, under Attorney General Pam Bondi, with making such decisions.
“I tell Pam and I tell the group, I don’t want to know about this. You have to do what you have to do. I don’t want to know about it. It’s not necessary,” Trump said. “I could know about it. I could be the one starting it. I’m actually the chief law enforcement officer. But I feel it’s better this way.”
He added that he expected to be briefed on the raid later in the day. He also took some swipes at Bolton.
“He’s not a smart guy. He could be a very unpatriotic guy. We’re going to find out,” Trump said.
Under Trump, the Department of Justice has also unveiled probes into a number of Trump critics, including Democratic Senator Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought a civil fraud lawsuit against the president and his company, the Trump Organization.
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Meanwhile, prosecutor Jack Smith, who led two federal investigations into Trump, faces a probe from the Office of the Special Counsel, based on Republican allegations that his inquiries amounted to illegal political activity under the Hatch Act.