REPORT: John Bolton’s Legal Woes Mount As FBI Seizes New Evidence

Last week’s FBI raid targeting former National Security Adviser John Bolton reaches beyond alleged mishandling of classified documents in relation to a book he published in 2020, according to a report from Fox News citing a Trump Administration source. The report has fueled speculation that the former Trump official could face criminal charges.

Legal experts have long speculated that Bolton could face legal troubles due to his 2020 book “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,” in which he trashed his former boss extensively. A lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleged that Bolton breached nondisclosure agreements by publishing the book without completing the required prepublication review process to ensure it contained no classified information.

The government sought to block the book’s release, seize Bolton’s $2 million advance, and prevent further distribution. The suit came after Bolton submitted the manuscript for review in December 2019, but proceeded to publication in June 2020 despite ongoing White House scrutiny

On June 20, 2020, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth found that Bolton “likely published classified materials” and had “exposed his country to harm.” The judge ultimately blocked the government’s request for an injunction to block publication, however.

The judge reviewed classified excerpts from the book in a closed session and found that Bolton’s decision to publish without final written authorization from the National Security Council (NSC) violated his agreements. “Defendant Bolton has gambled with the national security of the United States. He has exposed his country to harm and himself to civil (and potentially criminal) liability,” Lamberth found.

Lamberth further criticized Bolton for “unilaterally” proceeding, noting that the damage from distribution was irreversible. The judge allowed the broader lawsuit to move forward in October 2020, though it was ultimately dismissed by the Biden Administration a few months later.

“With respect to Bolton’s book, he is potentially vulnerable if he maintains any copies of early drafts which were determined to contain ‘voluminous’ amounts of classified information when it was first submitted to the White House for review,” D.C.-based attorney Mark Zaid told Fox News. “Those drafts were likely disseminated, per normal course of business, to his literary agent, publisher and lawyer.”

Zaid added that Bolton’s conduct may be unlawful under the Espionage Act, which has been used to pursue high-profile cases against spies and foreign agents.

In court documents, Bolton denied claims that his memoir contained classified information, but then he edited some information out of the book after consulting with the NSC. Bolton never received a final sign-off from the NSC before moving forward with publication.

While Bolton’s book has been identified as the likely reason for last week’s raid by several pundits and legal experts, a White House source told Fox News that the current investigation expands beyond it. The search warrants, which were signed off on by a judge, were based on evidence collected overseas by the CIA, the New York Times reported.

Despite mounting legal woes, prominent Democrats and enthusiastic supporters of the controversial criminal cases against President Trump have claimed Bolton is being targeted by a “weaponized” Justice Department. Zaid stated that while Bolton could accuse the Trump Administration of targeting him, such claims are often difficult to prove.