By Sadie Gurman

The FBI on Friday searched the Maryland home of former Trump national security adviser John Bolton as part of an investigation into his handling of classified records, people familiar with the matter said.

A spokeswoman for Bolton, a top critic of President Trump in recent years, declined to comment. He clashed with the president over policies toward Iran and North Korea during his 18-month tenure in Trump's first term.

A Federal Bureau of Investigation spokesman didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

"NO ONE is above the law," Director Kash Patel said on X around the time of the search.

The Justice Department during Trump's first term sued Bolton and launched a criminal investigation into whether he unlawfully disclosed classified information in his memoir, which offered a scathing assessment of Trump's presidency. Biden officials dropped the lawsuit and the grand jury probe in 2021, which Bolton cited as an example of Trump inappropriately using the Justice Department to protect his personal interests.

Friday's search stems from an investigation into whether Bolton illegally possessed or shared classified material, one person familiar with it said.

Trump officials are pursuing his perceived enemies with new zeal in his second term, opening probes into some of his most vocal critics, many of them Democrats, and firing agents and prosecutors involved in federal investigations of the president and his allies.

Write to Sadie Gurman at sadie.gurman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 22, 2025 08:24 ET (12:24 GMT)

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