Former National Security Advisor John Bolton arrives at the U.S. District Courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland, Oct. 17, 2025, after being charged by the Justice Department with allegedly mishandling classified materials from his time in the Trump administration. (Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The affidavit in support of the search warrant from a raid on Bolton’s home in September was unsealed and obtained by Fox News Digital.
The affidavit supporting the search warrant revealed additional details surrounding the case against Bolton.
JOHN BOLTON'S HOME AND OFFICE RAIDED BY FEDERAL AGENTS
According to the unsealed warrant, staff from the White House National Security Council visited Bolton’s home Sept. 10, 2019, to retrieve classified information and any government property following his termination as national security advisor.
The government had created a sensitive compartmented information facility, also known as a SCIF, in Bolton’s home Sept. 17, 2018. That SCIF was decertified Oct. 16, 2019, according to the warrant.
"Based on my education, training and experience, I know that the installation of a SCIF within the TARGET RESIDENCE indicated that Bolton anticipated storing classified materials within the TARGET RESIDENCE during his tenure as APNSA," the affidavit states. "Once he was no longer APNSA, effective Sept. 10, 2019, his need-to-know expired, and any authorization for having access to the classified documents in the TARGET RESIDENCE was subsequently revoked."
It was December 2019 when Bolton submitted a draft of his manuscript of "The Room Where It Happened," his memoir, to Ellen Knight, the National Security Council senior director for records, access and information security management.
Knight acknowledged receipt of the manuscript, according to the warrant, and notified Bolton that "based on a preliminary review, the manuscript appeared to contain significant amounts of classified information, to include information classified at the TOP SECRET level."
Knight suggested Bolton modify and resubmit the manuscript due to the "large volume of classified information contained" in it.
"Knight indicated that, in all her experience, she had never seen that level of classified material and specificity of detail in a manuscript submitted for review," the affidavit read. "There were quotes from foreign leaders from negotiations with the President and details of foreign military actions which had not yet been publicly acknowledged by the foreign governments."
"Based on her experience in reviewing manuscripts for pre-publication review and the level of detail contained in Bolton’s submission, Knight surmised that Bolton either had an incredible memory or had to be writing from notes he would have taken as APNSA. Knight explained that any such notes were likely classified, fall under the PRA, and should have been turned over by Bolton at the conclusion of his government service," the affidavit read.
But on Dec. 13, 2019, Bolton’s team confirmed that he had cleared classified documents and did not possess any additional classified documents at his home.
EX-NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR JOHN BOLTON INDICTED WITH IMPROPER HANDLING OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS
The affidavit, though, revealed that in February 2020, Bolton’s assistant wrote an email to the National Security Council to notify them that Bolton was reinstalling a SCIF in his home and needed the contact information for someone at the National Security Council who could accredit the SCIF. That was unusual, according to the warrant, given Bolton was no longer an employee of the U.S. government.
The National Security Council director of security responded the same day, telling Bolton and his team that installing an accredited SCIF in his home was "not a viable option."
It was more than a year later that Bolton’s AOL email account was hacked by a foreign entity, believed to be Iran.
JOHN BOLTON'S HOME AND OFFICE RAIDED BY FEDERAL AGENTS
Then-National Security Advisor John R. Bolton listens as then-President Donald J. Trump meets with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte in the Oval Office at the White House July 18, 2019, in Washington. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Trump, meanwhile, often has criticized Bolton for pushing U.S. involvement in wars in the Middle East. Bolton served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush from August 2005 to December 2006.
Trump revoked Bolton's Secret Service detail Jan. 21, the day after Trump's inauguration as the 47th president, and Bolton said the move showed that Trump was coming after him.
"I think it is a retribution presidency," Bolton told ABC earlier in 2025, responding to Trump’s move to revoke his security clearance.
Bolton has faced threats from Iran going back years, including an alleged plot to assassinate him in 2021 and the Department of Justice subsequently charging a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for the plot in 2022.
The Iranian threats against Bolton were likely sparked by the January 2020 U.S. strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Quds Force, the Department of Justice reported in 2022.
Bolton, in October, pleaded not guilty to 18 counts.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Sullivan explained the charges to Bolton and asked if he understood them and the potential penalties of up to ten years per count and a maximum fine of $250,000 per count.
"I do your honor," Bolton said during his arraignment at the federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland.
"From on or about April 9, 2018, through at least on or about August 22, 2025, BOLTON abused his position as National Security Advisor by sharing more than a thousand pages of information about his day-to-day activities as the National Security Advisor — including information relating to the national defense which was classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level — with two unauthorized individuals, namely Individuals 1 and 2," the indictment reads. "BOLTON also unlawfully retained documents, writings, and notes relating to the national defense, including information classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level, in his home in Montgomery County, Maryland."
The documents Bolton allegedly transmitted were sent to two individuals unauthorized to view classified documents, the indictment said.
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Those documents, according to the indictment, revealed intelligence about future attacks by an adversarial group in another country, a liaison partner sharing sensitive information with the U.S. intelligence community, intelligence that a foreign adversary was planning a missile launch in the future and a covert action in a foreign country that was related to sensitive intergovernmental actions, among other information.
"The FBI’s investigation revealed that John Bolton allegedly transmitted top secret information using personal online accounts and retained said documents in his house in direct violation of federal law," said FBI Director Kash Patel. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
"The FBI’s investigation revealed that John Bolton allegedly transmitted top secret information using personal online accounts and retained said documents in his house in direct violation of federal law," said FBI Director Kash Patel. "The case was based on meticulous work from dedicated career professionals at the FBI who followed the facts without fear or favor. Weaponization of justice will not be tolerated, and this FBI will stop at nothing to bring to justice anyone who threatens our national security."
Bolton did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.
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