The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has seized phones, computer equipment, and documents from former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s Maryland home as part of an investigation into possible mishandling of classified information, according to court records unsealed on Thursday.
The search, which also targeted Bolton’s Washington office last month, resulted in the collection of multiple phones, computers, four boxes of printed schedules, typed documents labelled “Trump I–IV,” and a binder marked “Statements and Reflections to Allied Strikes,” The Washington Times reported.
Court filings cite criminal statutes that govern the unauthorised retention or transmission of national defence materials, though no charges have been filed and it remains unclear whether additional evidence has been found.
‘Nothing inappropriate was stored or kept by Bolton’
Bolton, who served 17 months in the Trump White House before being dismissed in 2019, has been a vocal critic of the former president and detailed their clashes in his 2020 memoir, The Room Where It Happened.
His attorney, Abbe David Lowell, denounced the investigation, accusing the Justice Department of acting “under pressure to satisfy a president out for political revenge.”
He added, “The materials taken from Amb. Bolton’s home are the ordinary records of a 40-year career… Any thorough review will show that nothing inappropriate was stored or kept by Amb. Bolton.”
The FBI search adds to ongoing scrutiny over the handling of classified materials by former administration officials, a topic that has drawn increasing attention in recent months.
