It took CNN merely minutes to trot out disgraced former FBI official to whine about John Bolton’s raid

CNN had former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe on air Friday less than an hour after the home of former national security advisor John Bolton was raided by the FBI.

The FBI arrived at Bolton’s Bethesda, Maryland, home at around 7 a.m. EDT to execute a search warrant. “CNN News Central” co-host Kate Bolduan welcomed McCabe back on the air around 7:47 a.m. to discuss the raid.

“Yeah, well, it’s really stunning. I mean, I don’t think — I don‘t think many people saw this one coming, but — so let’s level set exactly why the FBI is here now. Of course, we don’t have the substance of what it is they’re investigating, but we do know that if they’re at his home, they have to have a federal search warrant, which means they went in front of a federal court, a U.S. judge, and presented probable cause that evidence of a crime exists in that location,” McCabe told Bolduan.

WATCH:

“There’s absolutely nothing, I think, publicly known about allegations of criminal activity against John Bolton,” McCabe continued. “We know he’s been involved in disputes with the former Trump Administration over whether or not he had, you know, improperly had classified information in his book, so I think that’s logically something that I think people think of as a possibility here, but we really don‘t know yet because we haven’t and likely will not see the affidavit that supports that search warrant. Typically, those affidavits are not made public until after, and only if, someone is charged publicly and indicted.”

Bolton served as President Donald Trump’s national security advisor from April 2018 to September 2019. A source familiar with the investigation told Daily Caller Editorial Director Vince Coglianese the warrant “involves stealing classified documents and weaponizing them for political purposes.”

BREAKING… From a source familiar with this AM’s raid on Bolton’s home:

“This is related to a national security investigation of Mr. Bolton that was shut down by the Biden administration for political reasons. It involves stealing classified documents and weaponizing them for… https://t.co/gftGAhtqDH

— Vince Coglianese (@VinceCoglianese) August 22, 2025

“I have absolutely no doubt that Mr. Bolton will have very good counsel and they will attack this in a full-throated and complete way — as they should, right? So, we know that Mr. Bolton has said critical things about the president,” McCabe said. “That’s not illegal. That’s not a crime. That’s pretty squarely within your First Amendment right in this country. In fact, you shouldn’t be, you’re not supposed to be — the Department of Justice and the FBI have all kinds of policies absolutely prohibiting investigating people for the exercise of their First Amendment rights. And so if that’s what’s going on here, and there’s all kinds of reasons to believe that that might be the true motivation, we know that the president has embarked on a pretty extensive effort to go after his perceived enemies, to, you know, these revenge tours.”

McCabe was fired as deputy director of the FBI in 2018 following an inspector general’s report that accused him of lying about leaks to the media, but the firing was reversed in 2021 following a legal settlement after former President Joe Biden took office.

 All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact [email protected].

Latest posts by Harold Hutchison (see all)

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.