FBI Claims It Found Classified Documents in John Bolton’s Office
A court filing revealed that the FBI discovered classified documents in the Washington, D.C., office of former National Security Adviser John Bolton.
From Politico:
A description of the documents gathered in the Aug. 22 search suggested they included materials that referenced weapons of mass destruction, the U.S. mission to the United Nations and records related to the U.S. government’s strategic communications.The inventory by an FBI agent doesn’t specify the number of suspected classified documents. But it lists several collections or folders that were labeled “confidential” and some pages marked “secret.” The heading on at least one set marked “confidential” was redacted from the inventory, filed earlier this month in federal court in Washington.
The authorities searched for evidence that matched three felonies:
- Title 18, United States Code, Section 793(d) – Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information: (d)Whoever, lawfully having possession of, access to, control over, or being entrusted with any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, or note relating to the national defense, or information relating to the national defense which information the possessor has reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation, willfully communicates, delivers, transmits or causes to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted or attempts to communicate, deliver, transmit or cause to be communicated, delivered or transmitted the same to any person not entitled to receive it, or willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it on demand to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it; or
- Title 18, United States Code, Section 793(e): (e)Whoever having unauthorized possession of, access to, or control over any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, or note relating to the national defense, or information relating to the national defense which information the possessor has reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation, willfully communicates, delivers, transmits or causes to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted, or attempts to communicate, deliver, transmit or cause to be communicated, delivered, or transmitted the same to any person not entitled to receive it, or willfully retains the same and fails to deliver it to the officer or employee of the United States entitled to receive it; or
- Title 18, United States Code 1924(a) – Unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material: (a)Whoever, being an officer, employee, contractor, or consultant of the United States, and, by virtue of his office, employment, position, or contract, becomes possessed of documents or materials containing classified information of the United States, knowingly removes such documents or materials without authority and with the intent to retain such documents or materials at an unauthorized location shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both.
The FBI searched Bolton’s office on August 22.
The filing also included a section devoted to foreign entities intercepting classified documents that Bolton allegedly sent via his private server, but this section is blacked out.
The agents seized computers, hard drives, and any files labeled “Trump.”
We do not know when this investigation started.
Bolton faced a lawsuit during Trump’s first term. The administration accused Bolton on putting “classified information in a book he wrote after leaving” the White House.
Former President Joe Biden’s administration dropped the case in 2021.
[Featured image via YouTube]
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