Free Republic

The information that provided the basis for the warrant to search John Bolton’s home Friday was based on intelligence collected overseas by the CIA, according to people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation. John Ratcliffe, the CIA director, provided Kash Patel, the FBI director, with limited access to the intelligence. It involved the mishandling of classified material by Bolton, the people said. The search of the home and office of Bolton, who was national security adviser during President Donald Trump’s first term, was a major escalation of a long-running inquiry into whether he collected...

After more than three weeks of testimony and four days of deliberation, a New York jury convicted a Turkish banker charged in a U.S. sanctions-busting case that strained relations between the two countries. Hakan Atilla, 47, the deputy general manager of Halkbank, was found guilty of five counts of conspiracy and bank fraud but acquitted of money laundering. The verdict is likely to bring sharp rebukes from the government of Turkish President Recep Erdogan, who was implicated during the closely watched trial. Atilla faces up to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard Berman...

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag says Washington has told Ankara that jailed Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab -- a gold trader who is awaiting trial in the United States on charges of evading U.S. sanctions against Iran -- is in good medical condition. Bozdag made the remarks on November 16, a day after Turkey announced it had sent a diplomatic note to U.S. authorities inquiring about Zarrab. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons website last week listed Zarrab, 34, as having been released from prison on November 8. But U.S. prosecutors said that posting was an error and he remained...

FBI agents raided former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton’s DC-area home Friday morning in a high-profile national security probe, The Post can exclusively reveal. Federal agents busted into 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. “NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission,” he said in a cryptic post to X shortly after the raid began. The probe — which is said to involve classified documents — was first launched years ago, but the Biden administration shut it down “for...

John Bolton's bombshell memoir contains new instances of alleged misconduct by President Trump – including agreeing to back off criminal probes as 'personal favors' to certain dictators. The book also contains a claim that Trump pleaded with Chinese President Xi Jinping to boost U.S. food purchases, describing it in terms of his own election. Trump regularly touts a deal to pause the China trade war as one of his chief accomplishments. A new book excerpt obtained by the New York Times contains the claim about the criminal probes. Bolton writes that in cases involving China and Turkey, Trump was willing...