It’s incorrect to characterize the search warrants executed on former Trump national security adviser John Bolton’s offices and home as “raids.” That should be a term reserved for no-knock warrants executed by the DEA on drug lords.
Ambassador and Mrs. Bolton were, of course, surprised that the FBI came knocking at about 7 a.m. on Friday, but should they have been? President Trump has been fighting Bolton for five years about Bolton’s 2020 memoir, The Room Where It Happened, about Bolton’s time in the White House.
The FBI reportedly removed several boxes of documents — and possibly other materials such as computer drives — from Bolton’s home and office.
In 2020, the Trump administration sued Bolton to prevent publication of the book alleging it contained classified information. A federal judge allowed the publication of the book but said, in his ruling, that Bolton had likely published classified material and jeopardized national security. The Trump administration began a criminal investigation into Bolton’s handling of classified information which the Biden crew dismissed.
And now the Trump administration has renewed the case against Bolton. The president has said Bolton was a “dope” and a “lowlife” but claimed he knew nothing about the search warrants the FBI used on Bolton’s home and offices. This is possible but doubtful.
Bolton has been a prominent critic of Trump, beginning with the book about Bolton’s White House memories. Since then, Bolton has missed no opportunity to trash Trump in print in the Wall Street Journal and other publications and on the air. The two of them have a deep-seated mutual hatred.
So is it a big surprise that Trump — or Attorney General Pam Bondi — have renewed the investigation into Bolton’s handling of classified material?
It really isn’t. The statute of limitations for the Espionage Act, which covers much of a person’s legal obligations with respect to classified information, is 10 years and it apparently is tolled by a person’s continued improper possession of the classified information. Mr. Bolton’s security clearance was cancelled last January in one of the first actions of the new Trump administration.
Bolton is a well-known neocon and a war hawk. He loudly supported the Iraq war. (So did I, but I now realize it was a huge mistake. Bolton has made no such confession.) Bolton is a proponent of military action against Iran and North Korea. Trump has said words to the effect that Bolton never saw a war he didn’t like.
Bolton was never comfortable as Trump’s national security adviser. Moreover, he was the subject of an Iranian assassination plot during the Biden administration and that plot may still be continuing. The Iranians also plotted the assassination of Trump and that plot is certainly still active.
Bolton’s Secret Service protection detail has been cancelled by Trump.
The Wall Street Journal has characterized the FBI’s actions in searching Bolton’s home and office as a politically-motivated “vendetta” by Trump. It said, “It’s unlikely that Mr. Bolton broke any laws on national secrets, and he certainly didn’t share any with us over our long association with him. But perhaps Mr. Trump intends for the process itself to be punishment even if there is ultimately no criminal charge.…The real offender here is the President who seems to think he can use the power of his office to run vendettas.”
That’s an enormously strong statement by a newspaper that is usually one of the most reliable at getting the facts straight. The WSJ is backing Bolton in an unlimited fashion.
The FBI reportedly removed several boxes of documents — and possibly other materials such as computer drives — from Bolton’s home and office. It has not said whether any classified information was among the documents seized.
Bolton, who I knew briefly 15 years ago when I was editor of Human Events, is a very smart man. But was he so arrogant or uncareful that he retained classified information despite the warnings from the Trump administration?
Trump was indicted on 40 counts for retaining classified information in 2023 under the Biden administration. That indictment disappeared when Trump retook the White House. Former president Biden clearly retained classified information — in boxes stored in his garage — from his days as vice president. In light of those facts, and from Trump’s attempt to block Bolton’s book from publication, it seems like a bad idea to now attempt to prosecute Bolton for his retention of classified information.
Bolton may or may not be innocent of retaining classified information. An FBI report on the matter should tell us whether or not he is guilty of a crime, major or minor. FBI Director Kash Patel said “no one is above the law,” which should be true. But given the histories of Trump and Biden, as I’ve written above, prosecution of Bolton would be shabby act.
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