Trump targets critic John Bolton in classified records probe
3 Min Read
Federal prosecutors probe John Bolton over classified records as Trump’s critics, from ex-spies to top Democrats, face sweeping investigations seen as political revenge.
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Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton waves as he arrives at his house Friday, August 22, 2025, in Bethesda, Maryland. (AP)
John Bolton, the former national security advisor to US President Donald Trump and one of his most outspoken critics, is under federal investigation for possible mishandling of classified information, according to newly unsealed court documents.
The documents, released Thursday after media outlets, including Reuters petitioned for disclosure, detail an FBI search of Bolton’s Maryland home on August 25. Agents seized two cell phones, folders labeled “Trump I–IV,” and a binder marked “statements and reflections to Allied Strikes.”
According to the search warrant application, prosecutors are examining potential violations of federal law, including the Espionage Act, which criminalizes the unauthorized retention or sharing of national defense information.
Bolton’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, dismissed the allegations, saying the materials seized were “the ordinary records of a 40-year career serving this country,” and predicted that a review would find “nothing inappropriate.”
The Justice Department, now pursuing several prominent critics of Trump’s administration, withheld the affidavit that justified the search, citing risks to national security and the integrity of the ongoing investigation.
A political revenge
Bolton, a seasoned diplomat and national security figure who has become one of President Trump’s most vocal critics, has not personally addressed the investigation. His attorney, Abbe Lowell, denounced the probe as politically motivated, accusing the Justice Department of acting “under pressure to satisfy a president out for political revenge.”
Law enforcement officials familiar with the matter told The Washington Post that prosecutors are examining allegations that Bolton leaked sensitive material, making him the latest Trump adversary to come under federal scrutiny. In recent months, criminal inquiries have also been opened into several of Trump’s prominent critics, including Senator Adam Schiff (D-California), former FBI director James Comey, ex-CIA chief John Brennan, and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Bolton had previously faced a Justice Department investigation during Trump’s first term over claims he disclosed classified information in his 2020 memoir, The Room Where It Happened, which painted Trump as “erratic” and “stunningly uninformed.” That case never produced charges, but officials said the current probe encompasses both the book and more recent accusations involving sensitive disclosures.
According to unsealed records, the investigation is being led by prosecutors in the US Attorney’s office for the District of Maryland under Kelly O. Hayes, working alongside the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
Vice President JD Vance, addressing the matter last month on NBC’s Meet the Press, pushed back against claims of political retaliation. “We don’t think that we should throw people, even if they disagree with us politically, maybe especially if they disagree with us politically … in prison,” Vance claimed. “You should let the law drive these determinations, and that’s what we’re doing.”
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