The FBI has raided the home and office of one of Donald Trump's most vocal and persistent critics, former national security adviser John Bolton.
Mr Bolton was in the office of his political organisation as FBI agents raided it for potential evidence in their probe into alleged misuse of classified documents.
At the office building in downtown Washington DC, as well as at Mr Bolton's private home in Maryland, agents entered the premises and removed boxes of materials in what the FBI said was "court-authorised activity".
Federal agents entered Mr Bolton's home north-west of Washington DC at 7am Friday, local time, just as FBI director and Trump loyalist Kash Patel posted on X: "No-one is above the law."
The ABC was on the scene in Washington DC while agents were searching Mr Bolton's office. They arrived with what appeared to be technical equipment.
The agents left Mr Bolton's office building around 1.45pm, local time. They loaded evidence boxes into several cars, just as they had done at Mr Bolton's home in Bethesda, outside the city.
A short time later, Mr Bolton also left the building in an SUV with black-out tinted windows. He did not take any questions and has since returned home.
Mr Bolton has not been detained and no charges have been laid.
Messages left by AP with a spokesperson for Mr Bolton and the White House were not immediately returned. A lawyer who has represented Mr Bolton had no immediate comment.
Asked whether he had been briefed on the raids before an event at the Kennedy Centre, Mr Trump said he did not know about them.
"No, I don't know about it. I saw it on television this morning. I'm not a fan of John Bolton. He's a real — sort of a lowlife," the president said.
"When I hired him, he served a good purpose because, as you know, he was one of the people that forced Bush to do the ridiculous bombings in the Middle East."
'FBI agents on mission'
The Justice Department has so far made no comment on the raids.
However, leaders in Mr Trump's administration appeared to cryptically refer to the search of Mr Bolton's home and office in a series of social media posts on Friday morning.
In his post on X, Mr Patel referred to an FBI "mission", but did not clarify if he was referring to the search of Mr Bolton's home.
"NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission," he said.
Attorney-General Pam Bondi shared Mr Patel's post, adding: "America's safety isn't negotiable. Justice will be pursued. Always."
Bolton a persistent Trump critic
In recent days, Mr Bolton has been outspoken with his criticism of Mr Trump over his attempts at negotiating with Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
As the raids at his home were happening, Mr Bolton made further comments about the latest US attempt to negotiate peace in Ukraine, posting on X, saying: "Meetings will continue because Trump wants a Nobel Peace Prize, but I don't see these talks making any progress."
Mr Bolton served as Mr Trump's third national security adviser for 17 months and clashed with him over Iran, Afghanistan and North Korea.
The raids are reportedly part of an investigation into Mr Bolton's handling of classified information.
Mr Trump and officials have previously said he believed Mr Bolton used classified documents accessed during his time in cabinet to write his 2020 book, which was highly critical of the president.
American media have characterised today's raids as the Trump administration's latest move against the president's rivals.
In 2021, under Joe Biden, the US Department of Justice abandoned its lawsuit and dropped a separate grand jury investigation into Mr Bolton.
On his first day back in office this year, Mr Trump revoked the security clearances of more than four dozen former intelligence officials, including Mr Bolton.
Mr Bolton was also among a trio of former Trump officials whose security details were cancelled by the US president earlier this year.
ABC/AP/Reuters
