Image source, EPA

The FBI searched the Maryland home of Donald Trump's former national security adviser, John Bolton, earlier today. Agents also searched his office in downtown Washington DC.

Here's what we've learned throughout the day:

• It's not clear why exactly agents searched Bolton's home and office, but the BBC's US media partner CBS says the search is linked to an investigation into classified documents
• Agents were seen leaving both locations with boxes of files
• FBI Director Kash Patel posted, "No one is above the law ... FBI agents on mission." Attorney General Pam Bondi added, "Justice will be pursued"
• Asked about Bolton, Trump said he didn't know about the raid and only found out this morning
• Bolton, who worked for Trump during his first term, has in recent years become a strong critic of the president and his policies
• Vice-President Vance says Bolton is not being investigated because of his criticism of Trump
• Bolton hasn't made any public comments since the searches began

We're ending our live coverage of the raid here, but you can find more on the story here. Thank you for joining us.

Image source, Reuters

There’s been some political reaction to this morning’s searches, including from independent senator Bernie Sanders, who describes it as "another step in Trump’s march toward authoritarianism".

Writing on X, he says: "John Bolton and I have nothing in common politically. But last time I heard, in America, people are allowed to criticise the president of the United States without the FBI showing up on their doorstep."

Democratic senator Chris Coons says the timing of the search is "particularly chilling", telling CNN that Bolton has been highly critical of Trump’s approach to Vladimir Putin in recent days.

Democratic representative Raja Krishnamoorthi says the FBI activity is "an attempt to distract from the other big news of the day" - referring to a House committee being given files related to the Epstein investigation today.

As a reminder - we’ve still not heard from Bolton and the FBI hasn’t said what alleged offences they’re investigating.

Bolton searches will feed polarised environment in the USpublished at 20:08 BST 22 August

20:08 BST 22 August

Tom Bateman
Reporting from Bethesda, Maryland

There was a lot of concern among senior officials in the outgoing Biden administration about what they saw as the threat of retribution by Trump.

The sense I had from people at the end of Biden's term was that they felt confident that, although there may be a political determination to try to use the legal system for political reasons, there was enough strength in the independence of the court system in the US for there not to be a problem.

If this investigation is entirely politically motivated - which Vice-President JD Vance has denied - it would amount clearly to harassment, intimidation, and the use of the FBI to do so.

All of those accusations, when put to FBI director Kash Patel and others working with him, are adamantly rejected.

They say they are carrying out their duty to protect Americans.

But some Americans are really worried about this - in particular, Democrats.

We have seen other Trump political opponents under investigation, such as James Comey, so clearly I think there will be a lot more concern and this will feed in further to the very angrily polarised environment in the US.

As we've been reporting, the FBI searched John Bolton's Maryland home this morning. For now, we don't have any details about what they were looking for or why they were there.

In the clip below, you can see the moment Bolton returned - members of the media, including the BBC, call out questions to him, but he goes inside without answering.

We've just seen the first image come through showing John Bolton following an FBI search of his home and office earlier today.

He's pictured waving from a car as he leaves the building that houses his office in Washington DC.

Image source, Reuters

As we have been reporting, the FBI is also raiding the offices of John Bolton, Trump's former adviser-turned-critic, in addition to his home in Maryland.

Here are some pictures from the scene outside his Washington DC office.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, EPA

We've been monitoring the scene at John Bolton's home in Maryland, where FBI officers searched John Bolton's home this morning.

We've also got an eye on Bolton's Washington DC office - we'll let you know if we hear from him there.

In the meantime, here's how it's looked as agents worked at the former national security adviser's home.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Vice-President JD Vance says John Bolton is not being investigated because he has criticised Donald Trump.

In an interview with NBC News, he said the FBI will only bring a case against Bolton if "they determine that he has broken the law".

"We're going to be deliberate about that, because we don’t think that we should throw people - even if they disagree with us politically, maybe especially if they disagree with us politically - you shouldn't throw people willy-nilly in prison," he said.

"You should let the law drive these determinations, and that’s what we’re doing."

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Image source, Reuters

Donald Trump has just wrapped up his comments in the Oval Office, with very little mention of the search of John Bolton's office and home.

Even by Trump's standards, this was a rather long and wide-ranging question-and-answer session.

Trump is, quite clearly, in a good mood. For much of the event, he was laughing and joking with reporters and officials in the room, including by asking if he could keep the World Cup trophy - which he said would be a good fit in the Oval Office.

Later on, when asked what role he would play in the World Cup draw, Trump joked that he "might play" in the tournament and that he is a "great athlete" who looks "extremely good in shorts".

From my seat in the White House basement, I could hear reporters chuckling to themselves

While he did cover some more serious issues - including the war in Ukraine and Russia and the National Guard's involvement fighting crime in DC - the Bolton issue seems to be far from his mind, at least publicly.

He's still not been briefed by Attorney General Pam Bondi on the searches, he says.

It's always possible that in the coming days we'll hear more from him about the matter, even if he says for now that he does not want to get involved.

A reporter has just asked Trump in the Oval Office about Bolton and what exactly he's being investigated for.

Trump says he doesn't know, saying he hasn't spoken to Attorney General Pam Bondi about the probe.

"I purposefully don't want to get involved," he says, adding that he thinks Bolton is a "sleazebag".

He then talks about having his Mar-a-Lago home raided in 2022 as a part of the federal government's investigation into his handling of classified documents. He faced criminal charges in that case but they were dropped Trump took office for the second time.

He mentions that investigators looked through his young son's and wife's belongings during that search.

Image source, Getty Images

Donald Trump is currently speaking from the Oval Office, where he is making an announcement about the Fifa World Cup, which will be played in the US, Canada and Mexico next year.

Alongside him is Fifa president Gianni Infantino who Trump says has just travelled from Italy to the White House.

The US president announces that the 2026 World Cup draw will take place at the Kennedy Center in DC.

Our reporters are listening in for anything the president says about the FBI investigation into Bolton - we'll have any relevant lines with you in this page, so stay tuned.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

President Trump has just arrived back at the White House, after spending much of his morning at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts just a short drive away.

He was originally scheduled to speak at noon local time (16:00 GMT) - but that time has come and gone. It's unclear when those remarks will now happen.

The event is, we're told, about next year's Fifa World Cup and to announce that the draw will be held at the Kennedy Center.

Today's press pool will be in the Oval Office with the president, which means they'll be able to ask him questions on a variety of other matters, which will surely include more on Bolton.

It's been an extremely hectic day so far at the White House, which filled up with reporters much earlier than is typical.

Trump appears, however, to be in a good mood, and was seen earlier wearing a hat which bore a message: "Trump was right about everything."

Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu
Live reporter in Washington DC

It has now been more than two hours since I arrived here outside John Bolton's downtown Washington office.

Apart from a few sightings of FBI agents walking in the lobby, there has not been much activity.

More journalists have arrived here, and passers-by have been curious about what's going on. One person asked me: "Is this for a movie?"

Kayla Epstein
US reporter

Image source, Getty Images

John Bolton's time working for Trump during the president's first term ended dramatically.

In September 2019, Trump abruptly announced on Twitter that Bolton had resigned at his request.

Their relationship deteriorated rapidly during high-stakes negotiations over the future of American military involvement in Afghanistan, the Washington Post and NPR reported.

After his dismissal, the Washington Post claimed that Bolton's aggressive management style had led him to clashing with others in the administration behind the scenes.

Bolton, a well-known foreign policy hawk, was always an odd fit for Trump's less interventionist mindset.

He pushed for a harder line on relations with North Korea after Trump sought a nuclear deal with the country. He was also one of several administration officials who pushed for Trump to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal that Barack Obama had negotiated.

Image source, Reuters

We've seen a lot of activity this morning but there are still some big unanswered questions. Here is what we're still waiting to learn:

• What is the FBI looking for? We've seen agents go into his home with boxes but it isn't clear that anything has been removed
• Why now? It is unclear what has prompted this police activity six years after Bolton left the White House
• Is this all about classified information? The FBI has not commented on the specifics of this investigation, so we don't know whether it is wholly about a long-running row stemming from Bolton's 2020 book

• Will Bolton be charged? As far as we know, Bolton has not been formally charged with any offence
• How will Bolton respond? We still haven't heard from him today - we believe he is still inside his Washington DC office

Tom Bateman
Reporting from Bethesda, Maryland

I just saw three FBI agents go back into John Bolton’s house here in Bethesda, Maryland. The men, all in FBI jackets, had come out of the building and walked to a spot where some police and unmarked cars are parked.

We’re across the street from the house, camped out with a lot of news crews. There's been no sign of Bolton himself. He was spotted earlier at his office in downtown Washington DC where the FBI is also carrying out a search.

I just chatted to one of Bolton’s neighbours, Bob Dean. He describes the raid as an "outrage".

"He served this country faithfully. He served the country to the best of his abilities. And this is an abuse of office, clearly designed to silence a critic in violation of his First Amendment rights," he says.

"It shouldn't happen anywhere in the United States of America and every American should be outraged by this. It proves the point that John Bolton has been making that [Donald Trump] is not fit to serve as president. He doesn't understand the constitution."

Image source, Getty Images

Bolton is one of several public figures in recent years to have been accused of mishandling classified information - most notably, Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

Trump was charged with wilful retention of national defence information and obstruction of justice for allegedly keeping dozens of classified documents in his Mar-a-Lago residence after leaving office in 2021.

That case was dismissed after Trump was re-elected in 2024.

Biden was investigated while still in office over allegations he kept classified documents in his Delaware home and other places.

A report from a special counsel determined that no criminal charges against Biden were warranted, but said he was an "elderly man with a poor memory", which raised concerns about his re-election bid at the time.

Image source, EPA

At just after 07:00 ET (12:00 BST), FBI director Kash Patel wrote on X: "NO ONE is above the law... @FBI agents on mission".

Around 10 minutes later, FBI co-director Dan Bongino shared Patel's post, adding: "Public corruption will not be tolerated."

Attorney General Pam Bondi also shared the post, adding: "America’s safety isn’t negotiable. Justice will be pursued. Always."

They didn't explicitly refer to the searches at John Bolton's home, but those posts coincided with the police activity.

Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu
Live reporter in Washington DC

Image source, BBC / Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu

I just saw an FBI agent walking into the office complex where John Bolton works in downtown Washington DC.

He stopped at the foyer to speak to building staff before getting into a lift.

Bolton was spotted here earlier today by one of the other reporters here, and is still believed to be inside.