• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

Trump 1.0's National Security Advisor John Bolton's House Raided by FBI

essentialsaltes

Fact-Based Lifeform
Oct 17, 2011
42,530
45,632
Los Angeles Area
✟1,014,506.00
Country
United States
Faith
Atheist
Marital Status
Legal Union (Other)
WASHINGTON – The FBI was at former national security adviser John Bolton’s house in suburban Maryland, according to news reports.

Bolton, who served in President Donald Trump’s first term, has become a vocal critic of the administration’s foreign policy and called the president unfit to serve. Trump previously revoked Bolton's security detail and his security clearance after clashes over policy.

Trump canceled Bolton’s security detail despite the discovery of an Iranian plot to kill him.

FBI agents searched Bolton’s home as part of a national security probe ordered by FBI Director Kash Patel, according to the New York Post. CNN also reported the search.

Andrew McCabe, a former deputy director FBI, told CNN on Aug. 22 the search was "really stunning." McCabe said there were reasons to look at the search "with a jaundiced eye" because of what might have motivated the search warrant.

“There is this very fraught relationship between the two, and the President's history of going after people, using the... levers of power that he has access to, particularly the Department of Justice, to go after people he doesn't like."

--
Fraught relationship:




 

Oompa Loompa

Well-Known Member
Jun 4, 2020
9,269
4,877
Louisiana
✟293,445.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
WASHINGTON – The FBI was at former national security adviser John Bolton’s house in suburban Maryland, according to news reports.

Bolton, who served in President Donald Trump’s first term, has become a vocal critic of the administration’s foreign policy and called the president unfit to serve. Trump previously revoked Bolton's security detail and his security clearance after clashes over policy.

Trump canceled Bolton’s security detail despite the discovery of an Iranian plot to kill him.

FBI agents searched Bolton’s home as part of a national security probe ordered by FBI Director Kash Patel, according to the New York Post. CNN also reported the search.

Andrew McCabe, a former deputy director FBI, told CNN on Aug. 22 the search was "really stunning." McCabe said there were reasons to look at the search "with a jaundiced eye" because of what might have motivated the search warrant.

“There is this very fraught relationship between the two, and the President's history of going after people, using the... levers of power that he has access to, particularly the Department of Justice, to go after people he doesn't like."

--
Fraught relationship:




Well, no one is above the law. So we are told.
 
Upvote 0

durangodawood

re Member
Aug 28, 2007
27,601
19,277
Colorado
✟539,285.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Seeker
Marital Status
Single
Well, no one is above the law. So we are told.
Does the Kash Patel FBI represent the law.... or the vindictive impulses of the boss?

Patels own testimony indicates the latter.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: Innsmuthbride
Upvote 0

Oompa Loompa

Well-Known Member
Jun 4, 2020
9,269
4,877
Louisiana
✟293,445.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Does the Kash Patel FBI represent the law.... or the vindictive impulses of the boss?

Patels own testimony indicates the latter.
So because Trump is giving lawful directives, Bolton is then above the law and can keep and leak whatever classified information he desires?
 
Upvote 0

essentialsaltes

Fact-Based Lifeform
Oct 17, 2011
42,530
45,632
Los Angeles Area
✟1,014,506.00
Country
United States
Faith
Atheist
Marital Status
Legal Union (Other)
From January

John Bolton says he’s faced Trump’s retribution. He worries what Kash Patel might do.

President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser believes his old boss pulled his Secret Service protection as part of a broader “retribution” campaign against political foes. And he worries that the campaign is just beginning.

John Bolton, a foreign policy hawk who left the Trump administration in 2019 and quickly turned into a sharp Trump critic, has had Secret Service protection since 2021 because of credible threats that Iran was trying to assassinate him. Mr. Trump ended that protection when he returned to office – even though the threat hasn’t changed.

Mr. Bolton believes that the revenge campaign could get much more severe if President Trump gets his choice to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Kash Patel, who worked under Mr. Bolton at the National Security Council during the first Trump term, will get his confirmation hearing in the Senate later this week. Mr. Bolton warns that he could be “a central element” of a larger series of reprisals.

Why do you think President Trump ended your security detail?

Let me go back. The reason [President] Biden re-extended Secret Service protection to me in late 2021 was because of the threat that I faced. It wasn’t political on Biden’s part. He and his advisers couldn’t be terribly happy about all the things I was writing about them. But they did it because they thought it was the right thing to do. You can’t leave American officials unprotected against that kind of threat.

When Trump comes in, the threat level hasn’t changed. In fact, I was told by both Homeland Security and the FBI, literally a few days before Inauguration Day, that the threat level was the same.

You wrote in your op-ed that Mr. Patel’s conduct during Mr. Trump’s first term indicates that as FBI director he would operate according to Soviet secret police chief Lavrentiy Beria’s reported comment to Josef Stalin, “Show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime.” Do you think that he might weaponize the FBI to prosecute people for political reasons?
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/2025/0814/russia-ukraine-alaska-summit-putin
The eye of history will be upon all these senators who vote in favor of him. Because that gives him, and Trump, the license that I’m very worried they want – to go after anybody, up to and including the senators who voted in favor of him, if they fall out of favor.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: wing2000
Upvote 0

durangodawood

re Member
Aug 28, 2007
27,601
19,277
Colorado
✟539,285.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Seeker
Marital Status
Single
So because Trump is giving lawful directives, Bolton is then above the law and can keep and leak whatever classified information he desires?
We dont know if your starting premise is correct.

We do have Patels promise to use his office for revenge purposes.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0

NxNW

Well-Known Member
Nov 30, 2019
7,098
4,943
NW
✟265,493.00
Country
United States
Faith
Atheist
Marital Status
Private
Upvote 0

Say it aint so

Well-Known Member
Jun 19, 2020
3,299
2,820
27
Seattle
✟167,325.00
Country
United States
Faith
Deist
Marital Status
Single
John Bolton is number 6 on now FBI Director Kash Patel's own stated enemy list:
  1. Michael Atkinson - Former Inspector General of the Intelligence Community
  2. Lloyd Austin - Defense Secretary under President Joe Biden
  3. Brian Auten - Supervisory Intelligence Analyst, FBI
  4. James Baker - Former FBI General Counsel and Twitter Deputy General Counsel
  5. Bill Barr - Former Attorney General under Trump
  6. John Bolton - Former National Security Adviser under Trump
  7. Stephen Boyd - Former Chief of Legislative Affairs, FBI
  8. Joe Biden - President of the United States
  9. John Brennan - Former CIA Director under Obama
  10. John Carlin - Former DOJ National Security Division Head under Trump
  11. Eric Ciaramella - Former National Security Council Staffer
  12. Pat Cipollone - Former White House Counsel under Trump
  13. James Clapper - Former Director of National Intelligence under Obama
  14. Hillary Clinton - Former Secretary of State and Presidential Candidate
  15. James Comey - Former FBI Director
  16. Elizabeth Dibble - Former Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy, London
  17. Mark Esper - Former Secretary of Defense under Trump
  18. Alyssa Farah - Former Trump Director of Strategic Communications
  19. Evelyn Farkas - Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense under Obama
  20. Sarah Isgur Flores - Former DOJ Communications Head under Trump
  21. Merrick Garland - Attorney General under Biden
  22. Stephanie Grisham - Former Trump Press Secretary
  23. Kamala Harris - Vice President under Biden
  24. Gina Haspel - CIA Director under Trump
  25. Fiona Hill - Former National Security Council Staffer
  26. Curtis Heide - FBI Agent
  27. Eric Holder - Former Attorney General under Obama
  28. Robert Hur - Special Counsel for Biden Classified Documents Investigation
  29. Cassidy Hutchinson - Former Aide to Trump’s Chief of Staff
  30. Nina Jankowicz - Former Director, Disinformation Governance Board under Biden
  31. Lois Lerner - Former IRS Director under Obama
  32. Loretta Lynch - Former Attorney General under Obama
  33. Charles Kupperman - Former Trump Deputy National Security Adviser
  34. Gen. Kenneth Mackenzie - Former CENTCOM Commander
  35. Andrew McCabe - Former FBI Deputy Director
  36. Ryan McCarthy - Former Secretary of the Army under Trump
  37. Mary McCord - Former DOJ National Security Official under Obama
  38. Denis McDonough - Secretary of Veterans Affairs under Biden
  39. Gen. Mark Milley - Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
  40. Lisa Monaco - Deputy Attorney General under Biden
  41. Sally Myer - Former FBI Supervisory Attorney
  42. Robert Mueller - Former FBI Director and Special Counsel
  43. Bruce Ohr - Former DOJ Official
  44. Nellie Ohr - Former CIA Employee
  45. Lisa Page - Former FBI Counsel
  46. Pat Philbin - Former Trump Deputy White House Counsel
  47. John Podesta - Former Counselor to Obama and Biden Climate Adviser
  48. Samantha Power - Former U.N. Ambassador under Obama
  49. Bill Priestap - Former FBI Counterintelligence Official
  50. Susan Rice - Former National Security Adviser under Obama
  51. Rod Rosenstein - Former Deputy Attorney General under Trump
  52. Peter Strzok - Former FBI Official
  53. Jake Sullivan - National Security Adviser under Biden
  54. Michael Sussman - Former Lawyer for the Democratic National Committee
  55. Miles Taylor - Former DHS Official under Trump
  56. Timothy Thibault - Former FBI Agent
  57. Andrew Weissman - Former Mueller Investigation Deputy
  58. Alexander Vindman - Former National Security Council Director
  59. Christopher Wray - FBI Director under Trump and Biden
  60. Sally Yates - Former Acting Attorney General
 
Upvote 0

Oompa Loompa

Well-Known Member
Jun 4, 2020
9,269
4,877
Louisiana
✟293,445.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
We dont know if your starting premise is correct.

We do have Patels promise to use his office for revenge purpose.
And I am saying that it doesn't matter what Trump's motives are. Is Bolton above the law?
 
Upvote 0

durangodawood

re Member
Aug 28, 2007
27,601
19,277
Colorado
✟539,285.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Seeker
Marital Status
Single
And I am saying that it doesn't matter what Trump's motives are. Is Bolton above the law?
As I noted I'm skeptical that this raid is in fact an application of law rather than personal revenge.
 
Upvote 0

Say it aint so

Well-Known Member
Jun 19, 2020
3,299
2,820
27
Seattle
✟167,325.00
Country
United States
Faith
Deist
Marital Status
Single
Apparently the same laws that resulted in FBI raids on Trump and Biden. So is Bolton above the law.
Biden wasn't raided. Neither was Pence. Only Trump was raided because of the three, only he thought he was above the law.
 
Upvote 0

FAITH-IN-HIM

Well-Known Member
Aug 23, 2024
2,160
1,449
WI
✟57,379.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Well, no one is above the law. So we are told.

According to available information, Bolton’s investigation began during the Biden administration under then-FBI Director Christopher Wray. President Trump and the current FBI Director were not responsible for initiating this investigation.

However, your statement that no one is above the law may be misleading. There appear to be instances in America where individuals are seemingly not held accountable under the law. For example, how can one explain a person with 34 felony convictions receiving 312 electoral college votes?
 
Upvote 0

FAITH-IN-HIM

Well-Known Member
Aug 23, 2024
2,160
1,449
WI
✟57,379.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Does the Kash Patel FBI represent the law.... or the vindictive impulses of the boss?

Patels own testimony indicates the latter.
NBC reports that the investigation on Bolton began under Christopher Wray.
 
Upvote 0

rambot

Senior Member
Apr 13, 2006
28,294
15,963
Up your nose....wid a rubbah hose.
✟448,681.00
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
Politics
CA-Greens
John Bolton is number 6 on now FBI Director Kash Patel's own stated enemy list:
  1. Michael Atkinson - Former Inspector General of the Intelligence Community
  2. Lloyd Austin - Defense Secretary under President Joe Biden
  3. Brian Auten - Supervisory Intelligence Analyst, FBI
  4. James Baker - Former FBI General Counsel and Twitter Deputy General Counsel
  5. Bill Barr - Former Attorney General under Trump
  6. John Bolton - Former National Security Adviser under Trump
  7. Stephen Boyd - Former Chief of Legislative Affairs, FBI
  8. Joe Biden - President of the United States
  9. John Brennan - Former CIA Director under Obama
  10. John Carlin - Former DOJ National Security Division Head under Trump
  11. Eric Ciaramella - Former National Security Council Staffer
  12. Pat Cipollone - Former White House Counsel under Trump
  13. James Clapper - Former Director of National Intelligence under Obama
  14. Hillary Clinton - Former Secretary of State and Presidential Candidate
  15. James Comey - Former FBI Director
  16. Elizabeth Dibble - Former Deputy Chief of Mission, U.S. Embassy, London
  17. Mark Esper - Former Secretary of Defense under Trump
  18. Alyssa Farah - Former Trump Director of Strategic Communications
  19. Evelyn Farkas - Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense under Obama
  20. Sarah Isgur Flores - Former DOJ Communications Head under Trump
  21. Merrick Garland - Attorney General under Biden
  22. Stephanie Grisham - Former Trump Press Secretary
  23. Kamala Harris - Vice President under Biden
  24. Gina Haspel - CIA Director under Trump
  25. Fiona Hill - Former National Security Council Staffer
  26. Curtis Heide - FBI Agent
  27. Eric Holder - Former Attorney General under Obama
  28. Robert Hur - Special Counsel for Biden Classified Documents Investigation
  29. Cassidy Hutchinson - Former Aide to Trump’s Chief of Staff
  30. Nina Jankowicz - Former Director, Disinformation Governance Board under Biden
  31. Lois Lerner - Former IRS Director under Obama
  32. Loretta Lynch - Former Attorney General under Obama
  33. Charles Kupperman - Former Trump Deputy National Security Adviser
  34. Gen. Kenneth Mackenzie - Former CENTCOM Commander
  35. Andrew McCabe - Former FBI Deputy Director
  36. Ryan McCarthy - Former Secretary of the Army under Trump
  37. Mary McCord - Former DOJ National Security Official under Obama
  38. Denis McDonough - Secretary of Veterans Affairs under Biden
  39. Gen. Mark Milley - Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
  40. Lisa Monaco - Deputy Attorney General under Biden
  41. Sally Myer - Former FBI Supervisory Attorney
  42. Robert Mueller - Former FBI Director and Special Counsel
  43. Bruce Ohr - Former DOJ Official
  44. Nellie Ohr - Former CIA Employee
  45. Lisa Page - Former FBI Counsel
  46. Pat Philbin - Former Trump Deputy White House Counsel
  47. John Podesta - Former Counselor to Obama and Biden Climate Adviser
  48. Samantha Power - Former U.N. Ambassador under Obama
  49. Bill Priestap - Former FBI Counterintelligence Official
  50. Susan Rice - Former National Security Adviser under Obama
  51. Rod Rosenstein - Former Deputy Attorney General under Trump
  52. Peter Strzok - Former FBI Official
  53. Jake Sullivan - National Security Adviser under Biden
  54. Michael Sussman - Former Lawyer for the Democratic National Committee
  55. Miles Taylor - Former DHS Official under Trump
  56. Timothy Thibault - Former FBI Agent
  57. Andrew Weissman - Former Mueller Investigation Deputy
  58. Alexander Vindman - Former National Security Council Director
  59. Christopher Wray - FBI Director under Trump and Biden
  60. Sally Yates - Former Acting Attorney General
What kind of vindictive child writes down an enemies list? I bet it's in a GIJoe diary too.

What kinda dysfunction?
 
  • Agree
Reactions: Innsmuthbride
Upvote 0

Say it aint so

Well-Known Member
Jun 19, 2020
3,299
2,820
27
Seattle
✟167,325.00
Country
United States
Faith
Deist
Marital Status
Single
According to available information, Bolton’s investigation began during the Biden administration under then-FBI Director Christopher Wray. President Trump and the current FBI Director were not responsible for initiating this investigation.

However, your statement that no one is above the law may be misleading. There appear to be instances in America where individuals are seemingly not held accountable under the law. For example, how can one explain a person with 34 felony convictions receiving 312 electoral college votes?
A little clarity:

"During the first Trump administration, the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into Mr. Bolton after publication of his 2020 book, “The Room Where It Happened.”
At first, the White House tried to block publication of the manuscript, arguing Mr. Bolton had not sought appropriate approvals. The court rejected the effort.
Separately, a federal grand jury issued subpoenas as part of a criminal investigation. While there has been little noticeable activity on the case for years, it continued into the Biden administration and has become more active in the second Trump term." --NYT
 
  • Informative
Reactions: durangodawood
Upvote 0

durangodawood

re Member
Aug 28, 2007
27,601
19,277
Colorado
✟539,285.00
Country
United States
Gender
Male
Faith
Seeker
Marital Status
Single
NBC reports that the investigation on Bolton began under Christopher Wray.
They had ample time to get to the point of a needing raid. In fact it seems rather late in the game.

I'm not saying I know this investigation is unwarranted. Just that the promise of revenge motivated persecution casts doubt that this is an application of law against this guy in particular..
 
Upvote 0

essentialsaltes

Fact-Based Lifeform
Oct 17, 2011
42,530
45,632
Los Angeles Area
✟1,014,506.00
Country
United States
Faith
Atheist
Marital Status
Legal Union (Other)
NBC reports that the investigation on Bolton began under Christopher Wray.
And it was closed a year later.

Justice Department drops Trump-era criminal probe and lawsuit related to John Bolton’s book

Wed June 16, 2021

The Justice Department has closed its year-old criminal investigation into former Trump national security adviser John Bolton and dropped a related lawsuit connected to the publication of his book about the ex-President’s diplomatic bungling.

The Trump-era criminal investigation had scrutinized whether Bolton’s book illegally revealed national security information, while the lawsuit had sought to grab royalties from Bolton for publishing his book without the administration’s full approval.

Career lawyers [at DOJ] had long viewed the civil and criminal cases as politically tainted because of the involvement of top White House officials and the former president’s public statements.

Earlier this year, a federal judge ruled that Bolton could seek evidence about the classification process around his book in case there was bad faith decision-making by the White House and intelligence community meant to protect Trump politically.

That decision had put the Justice Department in a potentially difficult spot, as the door had opened for Bolton’s legal team to push to interview under oath people around the President.

A long-time government official specializing in classification had stepped forward last fall to allege the Trump White House mishandled classification around the book, and said she believed she had been forced out of a job because of the then-President’s ire toward Bolton.
 
Upvote 0

BCP1928

Well-Known Member
Jan 30, 2024
8,891
4,490
82
Goldsboro NC
✟265,277.00
Country
United States
Faith
Other Religion
Marital Status
Married
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

We can't have an informed opinion about the episode until we know what, exactly, was in the warrant and what probable cause was affirmed.
 
Upvote 0

FAITH-IN-HIM

Well-Known Member
Aug 23, 2024
2,160
1,449
WI
✟57,379.00
Country
United States
Faith
Christian
Marital Status
Married
A little clarity:

"During the first Trump administration, the Justice Department opened a criminal investigation into Mr. Bolton after publication of his 2020 book, “The Room Where It Happened.”
At first, the White House tried to block publication of the manuscript, arguing Mr. Bolton had not sought appropriate approvals. The court rejected the effort.
Separately, a federal grand jury issued subpoenas as part of a criminal investigation. While there has been little noticeable activity on the case for years, it continued into the Biden administration and has become more active in the second Trump term." --NYT
This is informative. However, the case remained open for four years. If Bolton were not implicated, it would be expected that the FBI would have closed the investigation during that period.

edited - just another poster saying DOJ closed the case during Biden administration.
 
Upvote 0