Federal agents seized a cache of documents marked classified during an August search of former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s downtown office, court records show.
The search followed an earlier FBI raid at Bolton’s home. According to the warrant application, agents were seeking “evidence of a crime” and potential “contraband, fruits of crime, or other items illegally possessed.”
An inventory of the property taken at Bolton’s office indicates several electronic devices, as well as a binder labeled “U.S. Dept of State Diplomatic Security,” containing an “introductory security briefing prepared for the 2000-2001 transition team,” were seized, Red State reported.
The inventory listed travel memos marked “secret” and “confidential” concerning a U.S. mission to the United Nations and the government’s strategic communications plan. Agents also recovered classified documents related to weapons of mass destruction.
According to Politico, investigators did not recover classified documents during the raid on Bolton’s home but did seize multiple electronic devices.
“Both search warrant applications indicated FBI agents were seeking evidence related to three felony offenses,” they write, “including gathering, transmitting, or losing national defense information in violation of the Espionage Act and retaining classified information without permission.”
The Justice Department opened an investigation in 2020 into whether Bolton disclosed classified information in his memoir, “The Room Where It Happened.” Subpoenas were issued and a grand jury convened, but the Biden administration closed the inquiry.
Recent developments include reports that a foreign entity hacked Bolton’s AOL email account, though details have not been disclosed. A New York Times report published a week after the raids suggested Bolton may face broader legal issues beyond the handling of classified material for his book, the outlet added.
“The United States gathered data from an adversarial country’s spy service, including emails with sensitive information that Mr. Bolton, while still working in the first Trump administration, appeared to have sent to people close to him on an unclassified system, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive case that remains open,” the Times reported.
