FBI Raids John Bolton’s Homes in Probe of Alleged Classified Document Mishandling
Former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton is under renewed investigation for allegedly mishandling classified national security documents, with FBI officials telling The Post that criminal charges should be pursued.
Federal agents raided Bolton’s Maryland home and Washington, D.C., office Friday morning, seeking evidence related to allegations he improperly transferred highly sensitive materials to a private server and shared them with family members before his dismissal from the Trump White House in September 2019.
Senior FBI officials said the allegations were first identified in 2020 through a “very specific intelligence capacity” that flagged the potential transfer of documents from Bolton’s White House desk to his wife and daughter. The investigation, which was distinct from the earlier probe into Bolton’s 2020 book The Room Where It Happened, carried into the Biden administration but was later “shelved,” according to sources.
“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,” one senior FBI official said.
Some investigators characterized the case as “air-tight” and raised concerns that the Biden administration’s decision to halt the probe may have been politically motivated, given Bolton’s vocal criticism of President Donald Trump.
The matter resurfaced after FBI Director Kash Patel, confirmed in February, requested briefings on sensitive cases. Sources said Patel initially believed the Bolton file pertained to the closed investigation into his book but was told it involved an entirely separate matter that had not been pursued.
The raid was launched Tuesday in an effort to uncover further evidence regarding the alleged mishandling of classified information.
Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr



