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Then-National Security Advisor John Bolton (R) listens to President Trump talk to reporters at the White House in February 2019 in Washington, DC.
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FBI agents walk inside the back entrance of the Washington office of ex-Trump national security adviser John Bolton, Friday, Aug 22, 2025 in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
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Montgomery County police officers stand guard outside the house of John Bolton, Donald Trump’s former national security advisor after FBI agents conducted a court-authorized search at his place on August 22, 2025 in Bethesda, Maryland. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents searched on Friday the home of John Bolton, Donald Trump’s former national security advisor who has become a vocal critic of the US president. (Photo by Pedro UGARTE / AFP) (Photo by PEDRO UGARTE/AFP via Getty Images)
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PEDRO UGARTE/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images
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FBI agents walk outside John Bolton’s house, Donald Trump’s former national security advisor after the FBI conducted a court-authorized search at his place on August 22, 2025 in Bethesda, Maryland. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents searched on Friday the home of John Bolton, Donald Trump’s former national security advisor who has become a vocal critic of the US president. (Photo by PEDRO UGARTE / AFP) (Photo by PEDRO UGARTE/AFP via Getty Images)
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PEDRO UGARTE/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images
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FBI agents speak with tenants at the entrance of John Bolton’s house, the former national security advisor to Donald Trump, after conducting a court-authorized search of his residence on August 22, 2025, in Bethesda, Maryland. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents searched on Friday the home of John Bolton, Donald Trump’s former national security advisor who has become a vocal critic of the US president. (Photo by PEDRO UGARTE / AFP) (Photo by PEDRO UGARTE/AFP via Getty Images)
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John Bolton’s house is seen with Montgomery County, Md., police outside, as FBI agents search the house, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Bethesda Md. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
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Jose Luis Magana/AP/AP
The FBI on Friday searched the home of President Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton.
Bolton served in Trump’s first term in the White House for just over a year, but has since become a sharp critic of the president. He has said he believed Trump would use the Department of Justice to enact a “retribution presidency.”
The FBI on Friday said it conducted “court-authorized activity in the area” when asked about a search at Bolton’s Maryland home.
“There is no threat to public safety. We have no further comment,” the FBI added. The search of Bolton’s home was first reported by the New York Post. Bolton’s office declined immediate comment.
In a social media post, FBI Director Kash Patel posted on Friday morning that “NO ONE is above the law,” without mentioning Bolton specifically.
Bolton was one of the former administration officials whose security clearances Trump stripped when he returned to office. Trump also revoked Bolton’s security detail, which was in place because of threats from Iran.
Bolton published The Room Where It Happened in 2020, a memoir about his time in the White House that was critical of Trump’s approach to foreign policy and the presidency in general.
The Trump administration sued to try to block the book’s publication, alleging Bolton hadn’t gone through the proper clearance process and that his manuscript contained classified information. A judge declined that request, but said Bolton’s conduct raised national security concerns. The Biden administration dismissed the lawsuit and prosecutors dropped a grand jury investigation the following year.