FBI Director Kash Patel ordered the raid.
“NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission,” he said in a cryptic post to X shortly after the raid began.
Bolton was not home for the search of his home, but after it started, he was spotted Friday morning standing in the lobby of the Washington building where he keeps an office and talking to two people with “FBI” visible on their vests. He left a few minutes later and appeared to have gone upstairs in the building. Agents were seen taking bags into the office building through a back entrance.
Bolton served as Trump’s third national security adviser for 17 months and clashed with him over Iran, Afghanistan and North Korea. The first Trump administration had unsuccessfully sought to block the publication of a Bolton book that it said contained classified information.
Speaking to reporters during an unscheduled visit to the White House Historical Association, Trump said he had seen news coverage of Friday's search but he didn’t know anything about it. He called Bolton a “lowlife” and said he was “not a fan.”
“He could be a very unpatriotic guy,” Trump said. "We’re going to find out.”
On his first day back in office this year, Trump, a Republican, revoked the security clearances of more than four dozen former intelligence officials, including Bolton. Bolton was also among a trio of former Trump officials whose security details were canceled by Trump earlier this year.
