Federal agents seized three computers, two iPhones, and stacks of documents from former Trump national security adviser John Bolton’s home during an August 22 raid, court records reveal. The 76-year-old Bolton could face charges carrying a prison sentence of more than a decade, according to filings.
Agents searched Bolton’s Bethesda, Maryland residence and Washington, D.C. office amid an investigation into allegations he removed national security files from the White House during Trump’s first term. Senior FBI officials told the New York Post Bolton allegedly emailed some of these files to family members through a private server.
Along with electronic devices, agents confiscated two USB drives, a hard drive, four boxes of “printed daily activities,” folders labeled “Trump I – IV,” and a white binder titled “statements and reflections to allied strikes,” as listed in an inventory released Thursday.
Bolton is under investigation for possible violations of two provisions of the 1917 Espionage Act, which prohibit unauthorized possession or removal of national defense information, as well as a separate statute banning the hoarding of classified documents. If convicted on all counts, Bolton could face up to 25 years in prison. He has not yet been arrested or formally charged.
Officials told The Post the case was shelved during the Biden administration but reopened about a month after FBI Director Kash Patel took office in February. Trump’s Justice Department questions whether the Biden-era FBI’s decision to drop the case was politically motivated. A senior FBI official claimed the Biden administration “made no effort” to retrieve damaging material and accused them of “weaponizing law enforcement” by halting the investigation.