Foreign hack of John Bolton's AOL account cited as part of reasoning for searching his house

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CNN Politics

PUBLISHED Sep 12, 2025, 6:01 PM ET


Federal investigators had reason to believe they would find classified records in a search of John Bolton’s Maryland home last month partly because of what they had learned about a foreign adversary hacking his email years ago, according to a search warrant affidavit released Friday.

Information around the hack could become a central part of the case that investigators have been working on for years, if Bolton were to be charged with a crime, the search warrant suggests. Bolton was a national security adviser during President Donald Trump’s first term and a longtime war hawk and foreign policy specialist whom Trump now loathes. He faces no criminal charges at this time.

The FBI’s discussion of the hack of Bolton’s AOL account in the affidavit covers several paragraphs, though the entirety of that section of the affidavit is redacted, except for its introductory headline: “Hack of Bolton AOL Account by Foreign Entity.”

The inclusion of the section about the hack indicates that it has become a key reason for investigators to believe Bolton may have violated laws that prohibit the unsecured keeping or sharing of national defense and classified records following his departure from the White House in the fall of 2019.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/12/politics/john-bolton-foreign-aol-hack

[Easterncedar]

1. Seems like someone off stage is driving events doesn't it?

When a hack becomes the reason for a physical search, what does it do to the assumption of fact behind probable cause?

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Kind of like

a quid pro quo type of thing...

[Mawspam2]

3. Who still uses AOL?

Did they also hack his Compuserve account? MySpace? Bet they really did a number on his Napster database.

[Xipe Totec]

4. And let's not forget FIDO Net. nt

[Deep State Witch]

6. Old People

It's still a domain name, but the service no longer exists.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

9. I do.

[LeftInTX]

10. I still do. I also have gmail

[Javaman]

5. Just more performance theater to quiet a vocal critic

None of this is reality. It’s the right wings version of reality

[twodogsbarking]

7. AOL account? What year was this? Did I miss that.

[BoRaGard]

8. What about his MySpace account?

I hope the gopestapo was all over that