Knock Knock: FBI Comes for John Bolton

And so it begins...

Is this just the beginning?

John Bolton’s fancy Maryland neighbors kicked off the weekend awakened by lights and sirens as the Federal Bureau of Investigation initiated a search of Bolton’s home around 7am Friday morning. Bolton—a longtime Swamp creature dating back to the 1970s, former national security advisor to President Trump during his first term, and current media go-to for any criticism of the president and his administration—reportedly was not home at the time.

A few agents apparently showed up at Bolton’s office, too:

ABC News reported that a Maryland magistrate judge signed the warrant but did not disclose when the court authorized the search.

The nature of the investigation is unclear although an FBI source told Benny Johnson it related to materials published in Bolton’s 2020 memoir, “The Room Where It Happened.”

In June 2020, the Trump Department of Justice sued Bolton, who Trump had fired in September 2019, for violating nondisclosure agreements related to his work at the White House and the unlawful dissemination of national security information contained in the book. Bolton and his publisher, Simon and Schuster, “decided to press forward with the June 23 release date,” according to the lawsuit, despite a mandatory prepublication review process underway at the time by national security council officials.

“[The] publication and release of The Room Where it Happened would cause irreparable harm, because the disclosure of instances of classified information in the manuscript reasonably could be expected to cause serious damage, or exceptionally grave damage, to the national security of the United States. Completion of the prepublication review process and the provision of written authorization to Defendant as specified by the contract would ameliorate such harm,” the June 16, 2020 lawsuit read. Trump officials immediately sought a temporary restraining order.

But on June 20, despite concluding Bolton “likely jeopardized national security by disclosing classified information in violation of his nondisclosure agreement obligations,” DC District Court Judge Royce Lamberth refused to issue a temporary restraining order preventing distribution of the book. (Lamberth, who immediately entered a TRO earlier this year to halt the president’s executive order banning transgender treatments for federal inmates, noted that Bolton’s book “has been printed, bound, and shipped across the country.) According to Amazon, Bolton’s book was officially released three days later.

Joe Biden’s DOJ dropped the lawsuit in June 2021.

Could Bolton Get the Jack Smith Treatment?

During the Biden regime, Bolton became one of the media’s reliable go-to supporters of the lawfare against Trump. Here is Bolton cheering the August 2022 armed raid of Mar-a-Lago related to the Biden DOJ’s investigation into Trump’s alleged hoarding of classified papers:

Special Counsel Jack Smith subsequently indicted Trump in June 2023 with 31 counts of violating 18 U.S.C. 793, the Espionage Act, for the “willful retention of national defense information.” Smith also charged the president with obstruction and perjury among other counts.

In his public statement announcing the indictment, Smith suggested the president had endangered U.S. troops and government officials by allegedly storing classified papers at Mar-a-Lago. “Our laws that protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the United States and they must be enforced. Violations of those laws put our country at risk,” Smith solemnly opined at the time.

Could Bolton face the same charges? While the general statute of limitations for the 793 espionage count is five years, some unique situations extend the timeframe to 10 years. Further, if the FBI is pursuing a conspiracy case against Bolton, the conspiracy lasts until the last overt act, which might neatly fit into a five-year statute of limitations if adequate evidence exists.

But for now, MAGAland is cheering the first substantive action taken against the legion of not just Trump foes but former government officials who brazenly abused their power to sabotage the president and deceive the American people. A cursory review of Bolton’s very long resume demonstrates he is one of the dirtiest of all Swamp creatures, a bottom-dwelling snake whose fingerprints cover some of the worst foreign policy decisions in history including pushing the Iraq War.

Bolton just a few months ago publicly wished away the existence of Trump’s top law enforcement and intelligence leaders:

Ain’t happening, John.