After failing to stop the book’s publication ahead of the 2020 election, the Trump I DOJ opened a grand jury investigation into whether Bolton unlawfully disclosed classified information in the book. It subpoenaed Bolton’s publisher and agency, the NYT reported then.
The following summer, under President Biden, the investigation of Bolton was closed and the government dropped its lawsuit seeking to recoup profits from the book, the NYT reported contemporaneously.
It’s unclear whether the trumped-up investigation of Bolton now is a result of the original book investigation being reopened or is related to other matters. Regardless of the pretext, Bolton has already been targeted by Trump abusing the powers of his office during his second term.
As soon as he took office, Trump revoked the Secret Service protection for Bolton that Biden had restored, despite an ongoing threat to Bolton from Iran. At the same time, one of Trump’s very first executive orders on Jan. 20 revoked Bolton's security clearance Bolton, citing the book dispute.
The politicization of the Bolton probe was further confirmed by curiously timed social media posts from Kash Patel and Pam Bondi that didn’t mention Boltonor but seemed to revel in the FBI raid. In his own book in 2023, Patel included Bolton in a list of “members of the Executive Branch Deep State.”
Morning Memo, calling out Trump's retribution for what it is each weekday morning: morningmemo.talkingpointsmemo.com
Morning Memo = more & more important, necessary & vital the more the days immerse us in trump's Gangster Government.
Straight up Authoritarian behavior
Is there a running tally of how many people on Patel's enemies list, which he swore he wasn't going to target, have been targeted?