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John Bolton’s Legal Woes Mount As FBI Seizes New Evidence
Trending Politics ^ | 8/26/2025 | Cullen McCue

Posted on 08/26/2025 1:27:53 PM PDT by Signalman

Last week’s FBI raid targeting former National Security Adviser John Bolton reaches beyond alleged mishandling of classified documents in relation to a book he published in 2020, according to a report from Fox News citing a Trump Administration source. The report has fueled speculation that the former Trump official could face criminal charges.

Legal experts have long speculated that Bolton could face legal troubles due to his 2020 book “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,” in which he trashed his former boss extensively. A lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleged that Bolton breached nondisclosure agreements by publishing the book without completing the required prepublication review process to ensure it contained no classified information.

The government sought to block the book’s release, seize Bolton’s $2 million advance, and prevent further distribution. The suit came after Bolton submitted the manuscript for review in December 2019, but proceeded to publication in June 2020 despite ongoing White House scrutiny

On June 20, 2020, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth found that Bolton “likely published classified materials” and had “exposed his country to harm.” The judge ultimately blocked the government’s request for an injunction to block publication, however.

The judge reviewed classified excerpts from the book in a closed session and found that Bolton’s decision to publish without final written authorization from the National Security Council (NSC) violated his agreements. “Defendant Bolton has gambled with the national security of the United States. He has exposed his country to harm and himself to civil (and potentially criminal) liability,” Lamberth found.

Lamberth further criticized Bolton for “unilaterally” proceeding, noting that the damage from distribution was irreversible. The judge allowed the broader lawsuit to move forward in October 2020, though it was ultimately dismissed by the Biden Administration a few months later.

“With respect to Bolton’s book, he is potentially vulnerable if he maintains any copies of early drafts which were determined to contain ‘voluminous’ amounts of classified information when it was first submitted to the White House for review,” D.C.-based attorney Mark Zaid told Fox News. “Those drafts were likely disseminated, per normal course of business, to his literary agent, publisher and lawyer.”

Zaid added that Bolton’s conduct may be unlawful under the Espionage Act, which has been used to pursue high-profile cases against spies and foreign agents.

In court documents, Bolton denied claims that his memoir contained classified information, but then he edited some information out of the book after consulting with the NSC. Bolton never received a final sign-off from the NSC before moving forward with publication.

While Bolton’s book has been identified as the likely reason for last week’s raid by several pundits and legal experts, a White House source told Fox News that the current investigation expands beyond it. The search warrants, which were signed off on by a judge, were based on evidence collected overseas by the CIA, the New York Times reported.

Despite mounting legal woes, prominent Democrats and enthusiastic supporters of the controversial criminal cases against President Trump have claimed Bolton is being targeted by a “weaponized” Justice Department. Zaid stated that while Bolton could accuse the Trump Administration of targeting him, such claims are often difficult to prove.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: 201912; 2020; 20200620; bolton; classifieddocuments; compassrose; johnbolton; lamberth; marksaid; markzaid; nsc; roomwhereithappened; roycelamberth; trendingpolitics; walrusface; zaid

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1 posted on 08/26/2025 1:27:53 PM PDT by Signalman
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To: Signalman

Maybe he’ll defect to Russia.


2 posted on 08/26/2025 1:28:30 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: Signalman

He might need to buy a box of depends.


3 posted on 08/26/2025 1:33:50 PM PDT by Ge0ffrey
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To: Signalman

“breached nondisclosure agreements by publishing the book without completing the required prepublication review process to ensure it contained no classified information.”

-

Boy, that’s some real arrogance right there.

Assuming this jackass is half as smart as he tells people he is, “I didn’t know” ain’t gonna fly.


4 posted on 08/26/2025 1:37:09 PM PDT by V_TWIN (America...so great even the people that hate it refuse to leave!)
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To: nickcarraway
Maybe he’ll defect to Russia.

Who will groom his moustache? Stalin's barber is long gone.

5 posted on 08/26/2025 1:38:27 PM PDT by DallasBiff (Apology not accepted.la is not the sharpest knife in the drawer)
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To: Signalman

His book was published on June 23, 2020. Meritless Garland dropped Trump’s lawsuit in June 2021. What did Bolton know about the 2020 election fraud, and when did he know it?


6 posted on 08/26/2025 1:47:20 PM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
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To: DallasBiff

The moustache will take
a slow boat to China

While wearing a trench coat
and sunglasses 😎


7 posted on 08/26/2025 1:48:24 PM PDT by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the Days of Lot; They did Eat, They Drank, They Bought, They Sold ......)
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To: Signalman

I’m betting he was funneling NOFORN info to Ukraine and EU/NATO.


8 posted on 08/26/2025 1:53:37 PM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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To: Fedora

Mark Zaid / Compass Rose ping.


9 posted on 08/26/2025 2:07:01 PM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustmilents offered here free of charge)
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To: Mariner

Yeah. For a price.


10 posted on 08/26/2025 2:10:21 PM PDT by Regulator (It's fraud, Jim)
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To: Signalman

Lawyer Mark Zaid is one of the people from whom Trump pulled a security clearance.
See :

— Mark Zaid, a prominent Washington national security lawyer whose clients have included an intelligence community whistleblower whose complaint initiated the first of two impeachment cases against Trump.

Zaid subsequently sued, calling it an act of “improper political retribution” that jeopardized his ability to continue representing clients in sensitive national security cases.
...


11 posted on 08/26/2025 2:14:20 PM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustmilents offered here free of charge)
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To: nickcarraway

Unlikely, as he wouldnt get along with communists.


12 posted on 08/26/2025 2:15:19 PM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustmilents offered here free of charge)
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To: Signalman
Mark Zaid complaining about Trulp:

"For the first time in modern U.S. history, we are witnessing purely vindictive and retaliatory actions being taken against non-partisan civil servants who simply performed their jobs consistent with law and policy during prior time," said Mark Zaid, a Washington lawyer who represents government whistleblowers...

13 posted on 08/26/2025 2:17:31 PM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustmilents offered here free of charge)
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To: Signalman

And, speaking of Judge Royce Lamberth:

In March, Trump placed employees and contractors for government-funded Voice of America on leave.

US District Judge Royce Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, said Voice of America is funded by Congress and Trump’s cuts to the agency are “a direct affront to the power of the legislative branch.”

He then granted a preliminary injunction....


14 posted on 08/26/2025 2:19:18 PM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustmilents offered here free of charge)
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To: mass55th

Whatever it was, every time he offered to testify, the Democrats who had demanded he testify go cold feet and wouldn’t call him.


15 posted on 08/26/2025 2:21:13 PM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustmilents offered here free of charge)
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To: Signalman

The phrase “defendant Bolton” is music to my ears.


16 posted on 08/26/2025 2:22:59 PM PDT by Blurb2350 (posted from my 1500-watt blow dryer)
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To: Signalman
“With respect to Bolton’s book, he is potentially vulnerable if he maintains any copies of early drafts which were determined to contain ‘voluminous’ amounts of classified information when it was first submitted to the White House for review,” D.C.-based attorney Mark Zaid told Fox News. “Those drafts were likely disseminated, per normal course of business, to his literary agent, publisher and lawyer.”

Sounds very similar to Biden's case where he shared classified information with his writer for publication. Maybe Bolton will start mumbling, slurring his words and generally acting like Biden, "a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory”. But Biden wasn't acting, and Bolton could never pull off "sympathetic".

But I'd guess the DOJ probably seized computers that will end up containing other classified material that wasn't included in drafts of the tell all book.

17 posted on 08/26/2025 2:24:38 PM PDT by ETCM (“There is no security, no safety, in the appeasement of evil.” — Ronald Reagan)
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To: piasa
"Whatever it was, every time he offered to testify, the Democrats who had demanded he testify go cold feet and wouldn’t call him."

That's interesting. Hadn't known that.

18 posted on 08/26/2025 2:33:16 PM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
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To: nickcarraway

Gotta believe he has had his passport revoked


19 posted on 08/26/2025 2:50:44 PM PDT by Joe Boucher (Kimber .45 Be Kind.)
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