By Black Star News
Photos: YouTube Screenshots
The Friday FBI raid on the home and office of former National Security Adviser John Bolton have some saying that it appears to be the latest event in Donald Trump’s weaponizing of America’s law enforcement against his political opponents and critics. Bolton worked as National Security Adviser under Trump (Trump’s third one) from April 2018 until September 2019, when he resigned amid conflicts with Trump.
On Friday morning, Trump told reporters, “I’m not a fan of John Bolton. He’s a real sort of a lowlife. He’s not a smart guy. But he could be very unpatriotic. I’m going to find out.”
Center for American Progress president and CEO, Neera Tanden, issued the following statement on the raids at Bolton’s Maryland home and Washington D.C. office:
“The FBI is supposed to protect the country’s safety. It is not a tool of the president’s personal political agenda. By using the FBI to raid John Bolton’s home today, Donald Trump is weaponizing America’s law enforcement to target a political enemy. Seven months into the administration we need to ask ourselves how many lines are going to be crossed before conservative leaders speak up against Trump’s abuses of power. Using the FBI to go after your political enemies is clearly authoritarian. Conservatives who lecture us on big government should be the first to denounce this.”
The raids against Bolton are said to be about his use of government documents in his book “The Room Where It Happened,” which was critical of Trump, and so irritated Trump upon publication, that Trump threatened to jail Bolton.
Bolton’s book did use government documents—that were cleared for publication by government officials—but Trump’s lackeys fought to reverse the approval. The book states, among other things, that Trump was incompetent and uninformed on matters of national security, and was obsessed about his media press persona—and committed impeachable offenses.
After a judge ruled, in 2020, that Bolton’s book could be cleared for publication, Trump said, Bolton “must pay a very big price for this, as others have before him.”
Recently, Bolton has again become a source of irritation for Trump, including criticizing his handling of the Russia-Ukraine war crisis. After the failed meeting Trump had with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Alaska, Bolton said, “It’s clear that Putin got to Trump, most likely convincing him away from Zelensky non-negotiables like security guarantees.” On Thursday, Bolton also said, “Putin’s KGB training and flattery campaign is working Trump over.”
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