Investigation into whether foreign governments accessed emails sent by John Bolton

On August 22, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents raided the home of former National Security Advisor John Bolton in Maryland. Officials remarked that this was an operation stemming from an investigation that had begun during the Biden Administration, which, according to The New York Times, involves emails that were obtained by foreign governments.

Bolton, now 76, joined the first Trump administration with an extensive diplomatic career. He worked at the State Department and served as ambassador to the United Nations under George W. Bush. He returned to the White House in 2018 and was fired by Donald Trump on September 10, 2019.

Since his departure, Bolton has become one of the staunchest critics of the current president. He even published a book on the matter, 'The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,' which would be one of the central parts of the case against him.

As sources familiar with the investigation told the Times sources familiar with the investigation, officials "gathered information that appeared to show that (Bolton) had mishandled classified information."

"The United States gathered data from an adversarial country’s spy service, including emails with sensitive information that Mr. Bolton, while still working in the first Trump administration, appeared to have sent to people close to him on an unclassified system," the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive case that remains open.

Although no formal charges were filed against him, the cited media outlet adds that he is in talks to hire attorney Abbe Lowell. The renowned criminal lawyer has a client list that currently includes Letitia James and Lisa Cook. She, in turn, represented Hunter Biden and Jared Kushner in the past.

"The emails in question, according to the people, were sent by Mr. Bolton and included information that appeared to derive from classified documents he had seen while he was national security adviser. Mr. Bolton apparently sent the messages to people close to him who were helping him gather material that he would ultimately use in his 2020 memoir," they added from the NYT.