Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said Sunday that the FBI raid on the home of former National Security Advisor John Bolton was “clearly retribution,” arguing that the operation reflected a broader pattern of targeting critics of President Donald Trump.
Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press with host Kristen Welker, Schiff was asked about the investigation following last week’s FBI search of Bolton’s home and office.
Welker noted that Vice President J.D. Vance had already rejected the idea that the raid was political retribution, and pressed Schiff on whether Americans should let the investigation play out before making conclusions.
Schiff responded, “I think this is clearly retribution. I mean, the idea that they just picked John Bolton, a prominent critic of the president, at random. What the president is trying to do here is very systematic, anyone who stands up to the president, anyone who criticizes the president issue gets the full weight of the federal government brought down on them"
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"So if you’re John Bolton, you get your home seized. If you on the Federal Reserve and won’t lower interest rates you get threatened with firing, if you’re a general and issue a report or the agency does casting doubt on the success of U.S. military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, you get fired. If you are the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and you give a jobs report that the president doesn’t like, you get fired. They’re essentially going after any critic, any opposition, in an effort to intimidate them. That’s what this is about. It’s not about Bolton, per se. It’s about anyone else that, like Bolton, might stand up to the president.”
The comments from Schiff come as Bolton’s home in Bethesda, Maryland, was searched by federal agents early Friday morning.
According to officials, the operation was conducted under the direction of FBI Director Kash Patel.
The search has drawn widespread attention because of Bolton’s role as a high-ranking national security official in the Trump administration and his subsequent criticism of the president.
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The raid has sparked debate in Washington. Supporters of the administration argue that federal law enforcement acted within its authority, while critics, including Schiff, contend that the move reflects an effort to target political opposition.
Bolton, who served as national security advisor from April 2018 to September 2019, has been outspoken in his criticism of Trump’s foreign policy decisions.
His departure from the administration followed disagreements over strategy toward Iran, North Korea, and Afghanistan.
The search of Bolton’s home comes amid broader discussions about the role of the FBI and the Justice Department in investigations involving current and former government officials.
The situation has prompted lawmakers from both parties to weigh in, though opinions remain divided along partisan lines.
The Department of Justice has not released additional details about the scope of the investigation or whether Bolton himself faces charges. The FBI also declined to comment beyond confirming that a search took place.
The fallout from the raid is expected to continue this week as members of Congress seek more information and as the White House addresses questions about political motivations.
Schiff’s remarks signal that Democrats are prepared to frame the raid as part of a broader campaign of retaliation against critics of the president.
The investigation remains ongoing, with federal authorities providing no timeline for when further details might be made public.
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Schiff and Bolton can share a cell.
So true and they should but, we know it’ll never happen.
so true, as the repubs are a bunch of do nothings, when the repubs quit moaning and start jailing then this country will be just starting to clean up the mess that the demo voters left the rest of the country
along with the clinton crime family, barry the fraud and male prostitute and drug pusher, and the biden crime family
Hey Shiffless ever heard the old saying, “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander”.
As the govt tries to tell us “if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to worry about”
Would have expected shifty to state he had irrevocable proof that the raid was retribution
No one is above the law!
Give him the same treatment
I hope Kash Patel really goes after Schiff by a power of 10. He’s the worst of the worst, cocky about his being protected in the last administration so there must be a great deal of evidence lying around somewhere for his attempt to personally destroy Trump. Bolton is secondary investigation more than likely to keep Democrats focused on Bolton while continuing investigating Shitty Shiff. Hopefully we’ll see some final results for all the negative press Schiff spews out. Schiff needs to be indicted as a conspirator in the push to destroy President Trump in his first term along with Peter Strzok, Rosenstein, Andrew McCabe and the three heads of the CIA, HHS, NSA all should be indicted.