The FBI has searched the Maryland home of John Bolton, who served in President Donald Trump’s first administration as national security adviser but later became critical of the president.

The search on Friday was part of an investigation into the handling of classified documents, a person familiar with the matter said.

The person was not authorised to discuss the investigation by name and spoke on the condition of anonymity to The Associated Press.

Bolton was not detained and had not been charged with any crimes, the person said.

Bolton had not been detained or charged with any crimes, a person familiar said.  Photo: AAP

Messages left with a spokesperson for Bolton and the White House were not immediately returned.

A lawyer who has represented Bolton had no immediate comment.

The Justice Department also had no comment, but leaders appeared to cryptically refer to the search in a series of social media posts on Friday morning.

FBI Director Kash Patel, who in a 2023 book he wrote included Bolton in a list of “members of the Executive Branch Deep State”, posted on X: “NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission.”

Attorney-General Pam Bondi shared his post, adding: “America’s safety isn’t negotiable. Justice will be pursued. Always.”

The search of Bolton’s home comes as the Trump administration has taken steps to examine the activities of other perceived adversaries of the Republican president, including by authorising a grand jury investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe.

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 about his time in government, The Room Where it Happened, that officials argued disclosed classified information, but the Justice Department in 2021 abandoned its lawsuit and dropped a separate grand jury investigation.

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, had said the manuscript no longer contained classified information.

On his first day back in office in January, Trump revoked the security clearances of more than four dozen former intelligence officials, including Bolton.

Bolton was also among a trio of former Trump officials whose security details were cancelled by Trump earlier in 2025.

Pentagon intelligence head fired

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has fired a general whose agency’s initial intelligence assessment of damage to Iranian nuclear sites from US strikes angered President Donald Trump.

Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse will no longer serve as head of the US Defence Intelligence Agency, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss it publicly.

The firing is the latest upheaval in military leadership and in the country’s intelligence agencies, and comes a few months after details of the preliminary assessment leaked to the media.

It found that Iran’s nuclear program has been set back only a few months by the US strikes, contradicting assertions from Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In a news conference following the June strikes, Hegseth lambasted the press for what he claimed was an anti-military bias but did not offer any direct evidence of the destruction of Iranian nuclear production facilities.

Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced that the Air Force’s top uniformed officer, General David Allvin, planned to retire two years early.

And the Office of the Director of National Intelligence — which is responsible for coordinating the work of 18 intelligence agencies, including DIA — announced that it would slash its staff and budget.

The firing of Kruse was first reported by The Washington Post.

—AAP