(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Disgraced former National Security Advisor John Bolton reportedly kept classified documents in his downtown Washington office, according to court documents filed by the Justice Department.
Bolton is currently under criminal investigation for the unauthorized removal or retention of classified documents tied to his 2020 anti-Trump book, The Room Where It Happened.
A search warrant targeting Bolton’s office on Aug. 22 turned up materials referencing weapons of mass destruction, the United Nations, and records tied to U.S. strategic communications, Politico reported on Tuesday.
Some of the recovered documents reportedly bore “classified” and “secret” markings, which only sitting government officials are authorized to retain.
The “secret” classification is the middle of three levels used by the government for internal, sensitive documents. It is ranked above “confidential” and below “top secret.”
Bolton has not been charged with any crime as of publication, though that could change at any time.
A separate search of Bolton’s Maryland home did not yield classified documents, the outlet reported.
“Categories of potentially classified records that the FBI reported finding at Bolton’s office included: travel memo documents with a ‘secret’ label; confidential documents from the U.S. mission to the U.N.; confidential documents related to strategic communications; and classified documents related to weapons of mass destruction,” Politico reported.
In the filings, the FBI noted that Bolton was well aware of the rules surrounding classified materials. The bureau cited his criticism of Hillary Clinton’s mishandling of records and the media-manufactured scandal over Mike Waltz’s use of Signal for internal discussions in the Trump administration.
“Initially, I was totally without words,” Bolton said of the Waltz incident. “I couldn’t find a way to express how stunned I was that anybody would do this. You simply don’t use commercial means of communication, whether it’s supposedly an encrypted app or not for these kinds of discussions.”
Bolton himself had criticized President Donald Trump after Biden’s FBI raided Mar-a-Lago. “I don’t think he cared about the classification system. I don’t think he appreciated the sensitivity of this information,” he said in 2022.
3 years ago, John Bolton raced to a TV studio to criticize President Trump over classified documents.
"I don't think he cared about the classification system. I don't think he appreciated the sensitivity of this information. … He liked cool things, he saw things that so he… https://t.co/JdnLBfilW2 pic.twitter.com/oojEbtann7
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) August 22, 2025
Bolton’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, dismissed concerns about the records in remarks to the media.
“These are the kinds of ordinary records, many of which are 20 years old or more, that would be kept by a 40-year career official who served at the State Department, as an Assistant Attorney General, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and the National Security Advisor. Specifically, the documents with classification markings from the period 1998-2006 date back to Amb. Bolton’s time in the George W. Bush Administration,” Lowell said, as quoted by Politico.
“An objective and thorough review will show nothing inappropriate was stored or kept by Amb. Bolton,” he added.
