Kash Patel’s FBI raids John Bolton’s home, office in probe over sending classified documents to family

New York Post ^ | Aug. 22, 2025 | Caitlin Doornbos

[Texas Fossil]

FBI agents raided the Maryland home and Washington, DC office of President Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton Friday morning in a high-profile probe of allegations that he sent “highly sensitive” classified documents to his family from a private email server while working in the White House.

Federal investigators went to Bolton’s house in Bethesda, Md., at 7 a.m. in an investigation ordered by FBI Director Kash Patel, a Trump administration official told The Post. Agents later went to Bolton’s office in downtown DC, but did not enter until a judge signed a warrant for that location late Friday morning.

“NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission,” Patel said in a cryptic post to X shortly after the raid began.

[Texas Fossil]

Well, more pieces revealed.

And O'Biden is implicated. Hmmm Surprise?

Expose all of those who fought Trump so hard.

The TRUTH.

[Texas Fossil]

Justice Department officials who also served during the Biden administration purportedly told Trump officials that they had been “trying to prosecute this case for four years, and the [Biden DOJ] shut it down,” according to the senior official.

Investigators suspect the pause in the probe may have been motivated by the ex-national security adviser’s public political opposition to Trump.

[piasa]

Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is still running about completely untouched.

Bolton must have forgot to wipe his servers with a cloth and to mash his cell phone with a hammer.

[z3n]

“...private email server...”

GUILTY!

I don’t care how classified or sensitive the information was, nobody but NOBODY in DC needs a private freaking email server.

Period.

Even if you are on the geeky/nerdy side of life, and you don’t like Gmail, Ymail, 365, or proton, you can still get your own domain and get free email hosting from a lot of registrars/hosts.

There is absolutely no point in running your own email server unless you are up to no good

[shelterguy]

The article explains that the book thing is a dead issue. This is fresh meat. Bolton is at the FO portion of FAFO

[piasa]

I know a lot of geeks with private servers who aren’t up to anything other than bring geeks.
A public servant with an Iranian hit out on him might be inclined to have one.

[Bratch]

John Bolton Under Investigation for Violations of the Espionage Act

August 23, 2025 | Sundance 

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton is a well-documented neocon, who operates inside the business model of selling U.S. foreign policy influence for personal gain.  His activity mirrors that of former Senator John McCain in many regards.

John Bolton sold his access, contacts and ability to influence policy to the highest bidder. In DC parlance they call that a “consultant.” When the consulting is contracted for a specific national interest, the title shifts to “lobbyist.”  That was his job, and all of Washington DC knows it.

Washington DC operates on this business model; the entire system will be soft to criticize Bolton and many will likely defend him.

The FBI raid on his residence and office has led to a considerable amount of speculation.  However, as some background details start to come out, it appears CIA Director John Ratcliffe provided FBI Director Kash Patel with specifics on the international travels and efforts of Bolton.

That CIA referral has led to an FBI investigation under the auspices of potential violations of the espionage act, where Bolton would have leveraged current or prior classified intelligence information as part of his influence business.

Almost identically to former Senator John McCain, John Bolton was well known to intersect with the nation of Qatar as part of his operation.  Qatar has deep pockets and a long-identified influence operation throughout the middle east, sometimes playing both sides. Qatar is also the playground for the CIA.

While it is yet unknown which nation and which activity Bolton was likely engaged in, the highest probability centers around the deepest pockets, which would also put Bolton on the CIA radar.

With President Trump in the White House, there is a big market for the services of people like John Bolton who operate a specific militaristic mindset against the Trump administration.

NEW YORK TIMES – The information that provided the basis for the warrant to search John Bolton’s home on Friday was based on intelligence collected overseas by the C.I.A., according to people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation.

John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, provided Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, with limited access to the intelligence. It involved the mishandling of classified material by Mr. Bolton, the people said.

The search of the home and office of Mr. Bolton, who was national security adviser during President Trump’s first term, was a major escalation of a long-running inquiry into whether he collected or leaked sensitive national security information, law enforcement officials said.

The nature of the intelligence collected overseas is not known. The F.B.I. obtained the search warrant after presenting evidence to a federal judge. Mr. Bolton’s office declined to comment.

The C.I.A. and F.B.I. regularly cooperate on counterterrorism investigations. It is unusual for the C.I.A. to so prominently provide information for a high-profile investigation of a former U.S. official. (link)

Also from The New York Times:

[…] The investigation into Mr. Bolton seeks to determine whether he illegally shared or possessed classified information, according to people familiar with the case who requested anonymity to describe details of a continuing investigation. The key criminal statute involved in those potential crimes is part of the Espionage Act. Another potential criminal statute in the investigation is one that bars the unauthorized removal of classified documents or material.

The information that provided the basis for the warrant to search Mr. Bolton’s home was based on intelligence collected overseas by the C.I.A., according to people briefed on the matter. John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, provided limited access to the intelligence to Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director. The intelligence involved the possible mishandling of classified material by Mr. Bolton, the people said. (link)

Did John Bolton have access to classified information about national security policy, yes.

Would John Bolton leverage that knowledge for personal material gain, again yes.

Did Bolton operate in the same industry as almost all DC influence agents, yup.

Does this investigation of Bolton create an increased sense of anxiety amid all those who operate on the same system, oh heck yes.

What does the investigation of Bolton mean to the larger network of corrupt influence peddling in DC, we don’t know yet.

[Joe 6-pack]

My theory I mentioned in another thread is that Bolton was selected as the optimum first domino. He was despised by the left during the GWB years and served in the first Trump admin so it will be hard to paint this as a partisan witch hunt.

Bolton's history shows him to be a bully, coward and turncoat, and I would not be surprised if he had been psychologically profiled as the anti-Trump cabal most likely to flip to save his own skin.

[DesertRhino]

Public servant…. lol

[z3n]

I know a lot of geeks with private servers who aren’t up to anything other than bring geeks.
~~~~

Fair. I know I could do it. I just wouldn’t bother. You’ll need to patch your security and firewall a lot, keep an eye on that VPN, monitor your traffic.

I could see people who are still doing it because they always used to, but you need a reason to pickup and start doing it now.

~~~~~
A public servant with an Iranian hit out on him might be inclined to have one.
~~~~~

Also a fair point. You hear about Iranian hackers at least as much as you do N.Korea, and even Russia and China.
But the flip side of that coin is, if you think the thread is real and their capabilities are high, why are you trying to take on their tech as an amateur?

[Dan in Wichita]

Another question:

Is John Bolton an unethical character? Hell yes.

[daku]

I haven’t seen any stories about what was found at his home. Did the feds remove anything from the property ?

[armourenthusiast]

Hello mr Democrat, or whatever kind of wierd bot, you are.
What is your agenda here?

[bray]

What’s good for the goose...

[avital2]

thee is something delicious about teeth being set on edge all across Washington DC before a holiday period. the city is infested with leakers of every stripe,all on notice now.

[Codeflier]

I’ve seen the term used in the past when what was really meant was a personal email account, not a true private email server.

[PeterPrinciple]

allegations that he sent “highly sensitive” classified documents to his family from a private email server while working in the White House.

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lots of words there. My eyes go to “sent “highly sensitive” classified documents to his family”

lets see what is behind that door.

[Gary from Dayton]

“ I haven’t seen any stories about what was found at his home. Did the feds remove anything from the property ?”

We aren’t getting any pictures posted on social media from the fbi as we did during the Trump raid. I wonder why.

[P.O.E.]

[Liz]

Bolton alleged to have sent “highly sensitive” classified documents
to his family from a private email server while working in the White House.

---

Could be a subterfuge.....handing off docs to family to be sent or picked up by the “buyer.”