‘No one above law,’ FBI raids ex-Trump adviser John Bolton’s home

WASHINGTON: FBI agents searched the home of John Bolton, a former adviser to US President Donald Trump turned persistent critic, on Friday as part of a national security probe, a source briefed on the matter said.

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents began searching his house in the Washington suburb of Bethesda, Maryland, at 7am as part of a probe ordered by FBI Director Kash Patel, according to the New York Post, which first reported the raid.

NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission

— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) August 22, 2025

“NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission,” Patel wrote, without mentioning Bolton, in an X post shortly after 7 am that was reposted by a White House spokesman.

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John Bolton — staunch critic of Trump

Bolton served as the US ambassador to the United Nations and as the White House national security adviser during Trump’s first term in office. However, since then he has become a critic of the Republican president, calling him unfit to serve.

Minutes before the FBI raid on his home, Bolton once again took a jibe at president Trump, saying that his meetings with Putin “will continue because Trump wants a Nobel Peace Prize, but I don’t see these talks making any progress.”

Russia has not changed its goal: drag Ukraine into a new Russian Empire. Moscow has demanded that Ukraine cede territory it already holds and the remainder of Donetsk, which it has been unable to conquer. Zelensky will never do so. Meanwhile, meetings will continue because…

— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) August 22, 2025

Trump has repeatedly moved to wield the levers of presidential power against his perceived enemies since taking office in January, following his campaign promise of political retribution.

The president previously stripped Bolton of protective Secret Service detail that had been assigned after the US Justice Department said Iran had threatened his life.

The White House was also accused of improperly intervening to block Bolton from releasing his best-selling memoir by falsely claiming it contained classified information.

Representatives for the FBI and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Bolton representative could not be immediately reached.