❓WHAT HAPPENED: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents raided the home of former national security adviser John Bolton in Bethesda, Maryland, as part of a national security probe involving classified documents.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: John Bolton, FBI agents, FBI Director Kash Patel, and senior U.S. officials.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Friday morning, August 22, 2025, at Bolton’s residence in Bethesda, Maryland.
💬KEY QUOTE: “NO ONE is above the law… [FBI] agents on mission.” – Kash Patel
🎯IMPACT: The Trump administration is stepping up its probes into the misuse of classified documents and the politicization of federal investigations.
Early on Friday, August 22, 2025, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents executed a high-profile raid at the Bethesda, Maryland, residence of former National Security Adviser John Bolton. The operation began around 7 AM, reportedly under the direction of FBI Director Kash Patel.
The FBI head posted on X (formerly Twitter) shortly after the raid commenced: “NO ONE is above the law… [FBI] agents on mission.” The investigation centers on alleged mishandling or retention of classified documents, a probe initially launched during the first Trump administration but, according to a senior U.S. official, later halted by the Biden administration “for political reasons.” It has been revived since Trump’s return to office in January.
Bolton, a longtime neoconservative, previously faced legal scrutiny for his 2020 memoir, The Room Where It Happened. The Justice Department initiated an inquiry alleging that the book included classified content, in violation of a nondisclosure agreement signed during his tenure.
Bolton’s pro-war positions on Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Russia, and regime‑change policies often placed him at odds with Trump, whose preference for deal-making and peace clashed with Bolton’s hawkish worldview. When Trump publicly canceled an airstrike on Iran during his first administration, reports indicated that Bolton was “devastated.” Similarly, Trump excluded him from key diplomatic moments, like summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and discussions about Afghanistan peace talks, due to fears that Bolton would leak internal disagreements.
Eventually, the relationship frayed to the point where Trump posted on social media that Bolton’s services were “no longer needed.”
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