FBI raids John Bolton’s Maryland home in classified documents probe, sources say
John Boltons home raided by federal agents
Fox News David Spunt provides details on the FBI raid at former Trump National Security Advisor John Boltons home in Maryland as FBI Director Kash Patel tweets, NO ONE is above the law.
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FBI agents raided the Maryland home of former National Security Advisor John Bolton on Friday morning, Fox News Digital has learned.
The search focused on potential classified documents agents believe Bolton may still possess, according to one source.
Bolton, who served as President Donald Trump’s national security advisor from 2018 to 2019, is not in custody or under arrest. It is understood that Bolton was at home at the time.
Federal agents raided the Maryland home of former National Security Advisor John Bolton on Friday morning, according to two senior government enforcement sources briefed on the matter. (STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Federal agents reportedly busted into Bolton’s house in Bethesda, Maryland at around 7 a.m. local time in an investigation ordered by FBI Director Kash Patel, who took to X with a cryptic post minutes later.
“NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission,” he wrote without directly referencing the raid.
FBI agents outside the Maryland home of former National Security Advisor John Bolton on Aug. 22, 2025. (Fox News Digital)
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FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino shared the post and wrote, “Public corruption will not be tolerated.”
Meanwhile, Attorney General Pam Bondi also warned, “America’s safety isn’t negotiable. Justice will be pursued. Always.”
The probe was first launched years ago but later shut down by the Biden administration “for political reasons,” according to a senior U.S. official.
Then-national security advisor John Bolton listens as President Donald Trump meets with Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands in the Oval Office at the White House on July 18, 2019, in Washington, D.C. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The Justice Department under Trump’s first administration argued that Bolton’s 2020 memoir, “The Room Where It Happened,” contained classified material and sought to block its publication. A federal judge ultimately allowed the book to be published.
Justice Department lawyers argued the book contained classified national security information covering areas like U.S. intelligence sources and methods, foreign policy deliberations and conversations with foreign leaders.
In June 2021, the Biden Justice Department abandoned both a criminal inquiry and civil lawsuit against Bolton over the memoir, ending the legal battle at that time.
Montgomery County police block a road near the Maryland home of former National Security Advisor John Bolton during an FBI search on Aug. 22, 2025. (Fox News Digital)
Bolton’s attorney said at the time that a senior career official in charge of the NSC’s prepublication review process conducted a four-month prepublication review of the book and, after requiring a number of revisions, concluded that it contained no classified information.
The book contained a damning account of the Trump White House, alleging that Trump once “pleaded” with Chinese President Xi Jinping to aid his re-election campaign, among other missteps.
Trump ousted Bolton from his first administration in 2019 because they “disagreed strongly” on policy.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.