FBI Found Classified Docs in Bolton’s Office

FBI agents executing a search warrant at former national security adviser John Bolton’s downtown Washington office last month turned up documents marked as classified, according to a court filing released Tuesday.

A description of the documents gathered in the Aug. 22 search suggested they included materials that referenced weapons of mass destruction, the U.S. mission to the United Nations and records related to the U.S. government’s strategic communications.

The inventory by an FBI agent doesn’t specify the number of suspected classified documents. But it lists several collections or folders that were labeled “confidential” and some pages marked “secret.” The heading on at least one set marked “confidential” was redacted from the inventory, filed earlier this month in federal court in Washington.

FBI agents also carried out a search warrant the same morning at Bolton’s Bethesda, Maryland, home. The inventory from that search contained no outward indication that classified information was located. However, in both instances, agents reported seizing computers and other electronic devices whose contents were not detailed.

Both search warrant applications indicated FBI agents were seeking evidence related to three felony offenses, including gathering, transmitting or losing national defense information in violation of the Espionage Act and retaining classified information without permission.

In Trump’s first term, Bolton faced a lawsuit claiming he included classified information in a book he wrote after leaving the administration. A federal judge warned publicly that the former White House official’s actions might have been criminal. However, a Justice Department probe did not lead to charges and was eventually dropped under the Biden administration in 2021.

It’s not known when the investigation restarted. Court filings indicate that investigators determined that Bolton’s AOL email account was hacked by a foreign entity, although details of the alleged hack and how the U.S. became aware of it remain unclear.

Redacted court filings related to the Washington search were released by Justice Department lawyers after several news organizations, including POLITICO, filed a formal motion asking for disclosure of the records. DOJ attorneys agreed to make public redacted versions of the inventory, search warrant and accompanying affidavit, but resisted blanket release of the information, citing a need to protect a national security investigation.

Categories of potentially classified records that the FBI reported finding at Bolton’s office included: travel memo documents with a “secret” label; confidential documents from the U.S. mission to the U.N.; confidential documents related to strategic communications; and classified documents related to weapons of mass destruction.

“Secret” is the middle of three major tiers of U.S. national security classification, intended to cover information expected to cause serious damage if disclosed. “Confidential” is the lowest tier, covering information that could cause some damage to national security if released. “Confidential” is often used for routine diplomatic communications.

The material gathered in the search underscores the potential criminal exposure for Bolton. The federal government has brought prosecutions in the past for those who knowingly retain classified information outside of secure or approved channels.

An attorney for Bolton, Abbe Lowell, said the records were cleared for Bolton’s use years ago and many of them were more than two decades old.

“These materials, many of which are documents that had been previously approved as part of a pre-publication review for Amb. Bolton’s book, were reviewed and closed years ago,” Lowell said in a statement.

“These are the kinds of ordinary records, many of which are 20 years old or more, that would be kept by a 40-year career official who served at the State Department, as an Assistant Attorney General, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and the National Security Advisor. Specifically, the documents with classification markings from the period 1998-2006 date back to Amb. Bolton’s time in the George W. Bush Administration,” Lowell added. “An objective and thorough review will show nothing inappropriate was stored or kept by Amb. Bolton.”

Lowell did not address whether the documents had been marked as declassified, as is typical practice. The FBI’s inventory doesn’t include such details.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya approved the search warrant for Bolton’s office. She is the same magistrate judge who received a grand jury’s indictment of Donald Trump in 2023 for election interference and presided over his arraignment.

Special counsel Jack Smith charged Trump for hoarding classified materials at his Mar-a-Lago estate after leaving office in 2021 — a case considered to be the gravest threat to Trump until his victory in the 2024 election. Trump faced 32 counts of one of the offenses under investigation in the Bolton probe: unauthorized retention of classified information in violation of the Espionage Act. A federal judge in Florida eventually dismissed the case, citing legal flaws in Smith’s appointment.

Joe Biden also faced a criminal inquiry for his own collection of classified documents at his Delaware home, only for special counsel Robert Hur to conclude a jury would be unlikely to convict him for the offense.

Trump has long derided Bolton — after a stint as his handpicked adviser — for being a “warmonger.” Bolton’s defenders have worried that the FBI searches of his home and office were part of Trump’s public calls for retribution against his adversaries.