Trump coy on raid of critic John Bolton’s house: ‘I could know about it. I could be the one starting it’

·White HouseTrump coy on raid of critic John Bolton’s house: ‘I could know it

I could be the one starting it’By Eric TuckerBy The Associated PressBy Eric TuckerBy The Associated Press Trump's FBI raided the and office of John Bolton.AP Photo/Evan Vucci, FileThe FBI on Friday ed the Maryland and Washington office of former Trump administration national security adviser John Bolton as part of a criminal investigation into the potential mishandling of classified information, a person familiar with the matter said

Bolton, who emerged as an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump after being fired in 2019 and fought with the first Trump administration over a scathing book he wrote documenting his time in the White House, was not in custody Friday and has not been charged with any crimes, said the person who was not authorized to discuss the investigation by name and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity

The es, seemingly the most significant public step the Justice Department has taken against a perceived enemy of the president, are ly to elicit fresh concerns that the Trump administration is using its law enforcement powers to target the Republican’s foes

They come as the Trump administration has moved to examine the activities of other critics, including by authorizing a grand jury investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia be that dogged Trump for much of his first term, and as FBI and Justice Department leaders signal their loyalty to the president

Speaking to reporters during an unscheduled visit to the White House Historical Association, Trump said he had seen news coverage of Friday’s es and expected to be briefed it by the Justice Department but also insisted he didn’t “want to know it.” “I could know it

I could be the one starting it

I’m actually the chief law enforcement officer

But I feel that it’s better this way,” Trump said

Bolton had said in interviews this year that he was mindful that he could be scrutinized, telling the AP in January shortly before Trump took office, “Anybody who ever disagrees with Trump has to worry retribution

It’s a pretty long list.” An FBI the one at Bolton’s perties requires authorization from a federal magistrate judge

It wasn’t immediately what information authorities submitted to demonstrate that they had bable cause of a crime, though the Justice Department years ago launched an investigation into whether Bolton imperly disclosed classified information in a book manuscript he had written

The inquiry was later closed

Vice President JD Vance denied in an NBC News interview on Friday that Bolton was being targeted because of his criticism of Trump, “If there’s no crime here, we’re not going to secute it

If there is a crime here, of course, Ambassador Bolton will get his day in court

That’s how it should be.” Bolton was in his office building at the time Bolton was not for the of his , but after it started, he was spotted Friday morning standing in the lobby of the Washington building where he keeps an office and talking to two people with “FBI” visible on their vests

He left a few minutes later and appeared to have gone upstairs in the building

Agents were seen taking bags into the office building through a back entrance

Messages left with a spokesperson for Bolton were not immediately returned, and a lawyer who has represented Bolton had no immediate

The Justice Department had no , but leaders appeared to cryptically refer to the es in a series of social media posts Friday morning

Justice will be pursued

Always.” The Justice Department is separately conducting mortgage fraud investigations into Democratic Sen

Adam Schiff of California and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought a civil fraud lawsuit against Trump and his company, and ex-Trump secutor Jack Smith faces an investigation from an independent watchdog office

Schiff and James have vigorously denied any wrongdoing through their lawyers

Patel said in a Fox Channel interview this week that the Mar-a-Lago represented a “total weaponization and politicization” of the bureau, and Trump himself referenced it on Friday, telling reporters: “I guess his house was raided today, but my house was raided, also.” Trump and Bolton have been at odds for years Bolton served as Trump’s third national security adviser for 17 months and clashed with him over Iran, Afghanistan and North Korea

He faced scrutiny during the first Trump administration over a book he wrote his time in government that officials argued disclosed classified information

Bolton’s lawyers have said he moved forward with the book after a White House National Security Council official, with whom Bolton had worked for months, said the manuscript no longer contained classified information

Bolton’s harshly critical book, “The Room Where It Happened,” portrayed Trump as grossly ill-informed foreign policy and said he “saw conspiracies behind rocks, and remained stunningly uninformed on how to run the White House, let alone the huge federal government.” Trump responded by slamming Bolton as a “crazy” warmonger who would have led the country into “World War Six.” Bolton served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W

Bush and also held positions in President Ronald Reagan’s administration

Trump, on his first day back in office this year, revoked the security ances of more than four dozen former intelligence officials, including Bolton

Bolton was also among a group of former Trump officials whose security details were canceled by Trump earlier this year

The handling of classified information by top government officials has been a politically loaded topic in recent years

Besides Trump, the Justice Department also investigated whether then-President Joe Biden, a Democrat, mishandled classified information after serving as vice president in the Obama administration, and the FBI also recovered what it said were classified documents from the of former Trump Vice President Mike Pence

Neither man was charged. ___ Associated Press writers Michelle L

Price, Nathan Ellgren, Lindsay Whitehurst, Alanna Durkin Richer, Byron Tau and Jill Colvin contributed to this report

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