September 4
The FBI’s search of former Donald Trump national security adviser
John Bolton’s home last month was part of a criminal investigation into the unauthorized removal and retention of classified records and the improper gathering, transmitting or losing of national defense information, according to paperwork the
Justice Department made public in court on Thursday.
During the search of Bolton’s Bethesda, Maryland, home, FBI agents removed typed documents in folders labeled “Trump I-IV” and a white binder labeled “statements and reflections to allied strikes …,” the records say. They also collected two iPhones, four computers and hard drives and two USB drives.
A court had authorized the FBI to seek out documents that might have been classified related to Bolton’s former position as national security adviser during Trump’s first term in office, among other things. The agents were also permitted to press Bolton’s fingers onto devices if his fingerprints were needed to unlock them, or hold the devices in front of his face for facial recognition unlocking, the warrant documents say. (Bolton was not at home during the search.)