Former National Security Adviser John Bolton allegedly used a private email account that was at one point hacked by a “foreign entity,” an FBI search warrant affidavit released Friday revealed.
The 41-page document – used by federal investigators to justify the raid of Bolton’s Maryland home last month – suggests the hacking incident gave the FBI reason to believe the former Trump administration official mishandled classified records.
The Post previously reported that Bolton allegedly used his personal email account to send “highly sensitive” documents to his family while working in the White House.
“Hack of Bolton AOL Account by Foreign Entity,” reads a section of the affidavit, where investigators explained the probable cause for the searches.
The roughly 10 pages detailing the hacking incident are completely redacted. It’s unclear which foreign nation may have been responsible.
FBI Director Kash Patel recently reopened a dormant probe into Bolton’s alleged use of a private email account to send classified national security documents to his wife and daughter before he was fired by President Trump in September 2019, The Post reported last month.
The probe was initially opened in 2020, and continued into the Biden administration, which froze the investigation.
Bolton, 76, has not been arrested and is not currently charged with any crimes.
The sensitive emails Bolton allegedly sent to his family members were obtained by the US intelligence community when it retrieved them from an adversary government’s spy agency, sparking the initial probe into the longtime diplomat, the New York Times and NBC News have reported.
The hacked emails collected by the US intelligence community appear to show that Bolton mishandled classified information, according to the outlets.
“While Bolton was a national security adviser, he was literally stealing classified information, utilizing his family as a cutout,” a senior US official told The Post last month.
The search warrant affidavit also notes that the manuscript for Bolton’s 2020 book, “The Room Where it Happened,” appeared to contain “significant amounts” of classified information, including top-secret level material, when it was reviewed by a National Security Council (NSC) official before publication.
The NSC official informed Bolton’s lawyer in a letter that the “very detailed” manuscript appeared to be “likely produced from notes written by your client during his service at the White House.”
“When your client received his employee debriefing, he stated that he did not have any notes or other records from his government service,” the NSC official’s letter, included in the affidavit, continued. “Any notes that remain in your client’s possession regarding the accounts in the manuscript may fall under the requirements of the Presidential Records Act and be subject to litigation holds.”
“Pleas confirm whether your client has retained any notes or other records from his government service.”
Bolton served as Trump’s national security adviser for 17 months during his first term, but often clashed with the president on Iran, Afghanistan and North Korea before his firing.
The former US official’s book criticized Trump’s approach to foreign policy.
Abbe Lowell — disgraced former first son Hunter Biden’s lawyer — is now serving as Bolton’s attorney.
Lowell did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
