FBI affidavit to search Bolton home shows focus on personal email hack

Friday court filings offer additional insight into the basis for an FBI investigation into President Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton, discussing his book in detail while completely redacting an episode in which a foreign entity hacked his personal email.

The affidavit, initially filed with the courts on Aug. 21, details that agents believed Bolton might have violated the Espionage Act by mishandling national defense information.

The affidavit confirms earlier reporting that the Trump administration believes Bolton may have wrongly revealed classified information in drafting his memoir, “The Room Where It Happened.”

But the filing redacts in whole 10 pages of discussion related to the hack of Bolton’s AOL account by a foreign entity — another episode that may be connected to his book.

The New York Times reported last month that the inquiry included emails Bolton sent while still working at the White House that were gathered by a foreign intelligence service.

According to the outlet, Bolton appeared to have sent some sensitive information over an unclassified system to people he was close with.

Those emails were reportedly sent as Bolton worked to gather material for his 2020 memoir.

An attorney for Bolton noted the Biden administration also previously investigated the matter surrounding his emails and decided not to pursue the case launched under the first Trump term.

“The materials sought and produced in the search process were reviewed and closed years ago. They have been revived because Trump’s DOJ – the most politicized in American history – is carrying out his political revenge. The materials taken included documents that had previously been approved as part of a pre-publication review for Amb. Bolton’s book and are the kinds of records that would be kept by a 40-year career serving at the State Department, as an Assistant Attorney General, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and National Security Advisor,” Abbe Lowell, Bolton’s attorney, said in a statement.

“An objective and thorough review will show nothing inappropriate was stored or kept by Amb. Bolton.”

No charges have yet been filed in the case, with court records revealed after a bid by media outlets to secure their release. 

A spokesperson for Bolton did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bolton has been a frequent critic of Trump’s foreign policy during his second term, particularly over his handling of Russia’s war in Ukraine. 

Even as Bolton’s Maryland home was being searched last month, his account on the social platform X was posting criticism of Trump’s handling of the matter, including that meetings between Russia and Ukraine “will continue because Trump wants a Nobel Peace Prize, but I don’t see these talks making any progress.”

Updated at 6:29 p.m. EDT.