Who is John Bolton, his ties to Donald Trump, and why the FBI searched his home
In a stunning turn of events, the FBI raided the home of John Bolton, who had served for years in Republican administrations including during Trump’s first.
The FBI raided the home and office of John Bolton, his former national security advisor during his first term in office, on Friday morning. Agents arrived at his Bethesda, Maryland home at 7 am and his office a short time later The New York Post was first to report.
An official said that the search was in relation to a classified documents investigation that had been ordered by FBI Director Kash Patel. He posted on social media shortly after the operation began: “NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission.”
He has not been arrested nor charged with any crimes at this time. However, the move by the FBI is raising concerns that this was an act of retaliation by President Trump against Bolton who has been highly critical of his former boss.
Who is John Bolton?
A staunch Republican, Bolton has served in several Republican administrations. He has held the following positions in government:
- United States assistant attorney general,1985 to 1989: President Ronald Reagan
- State Department as the assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs, 1989 to 1993: President George HW Bush
- Under secretary of state for arms control and international security affairs, 2001 to 2005: President George W Bush
- US Ambassador to the United Nations, August 2005 to December 2006: President George W Bush
- National Security Advisor, April 2018 to September 2019: President Donald Trump
Raid on Bolton’s home raises speculation that Trump is seeking revenge
Although Bolton and Trump’s world views differ, Bolton is a foreign policy hawk while Trump is an isolationist, he was brought into the 45th US president’s administration in April 2018 as Trump’s third national security advisor.
His first, Michael Flynn, resigned barely a month into the job and was later charged with lying to the FBI to which he plead guilty on one count. Trump pardoned him before leaving office in 2020. Trump couldn’t stand his second, H.R. McMaster.
While Trump reportedly didn’t like Bolton’s signature moustache, the then-commentator on Fox News caught the eye of the president. However, once he was at the White House, his unwillingness to defend certain Trump stances on TV and vocally condemning Russian aggression got under Trump’s skin.
As well they clashed over policy on Afghanistan, Iran and Syria irritating Trump. Especially, Bolton’s scuppering of Trump’s plans to host the Afghan Taliban leaders at Camp David. Trump fired Bolton in September 2019.
After he left the Trump administration, Bolton wrote a best-selling book about his stint in the White House, ‘The Room Where It Happened’, which Trump tried to stop from being published. He claimed that classified material was in the book, but the attempt failed and the book came out in 2020.
A criminal investigation into Bolton began soon after. However, the Department of Justice shut down that investigation under President Joe Biden, deeming it to be politically motivated.
Once back in office as the 47th US president, Trump had Bolton’s security clearance revoked on the first day along with over four dozen other intelligence officials. Trump’s new FBI director Kash Patel reopened the investigation into Bolton an official told the Post.
Political commentators have been speculating since the news of the raid broke that it is politically motivated and that Trump is seeking revenge on his former national security advisor.
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