When Kash Patel, the FBI director, faced senators during his confirmation hearings on 30 January, he bristled at suggestions that his 2023 book contained an “enemies list”. The appendix to Government Gangsters, which included a list of names for around 60 people, was simply documentation of those who had “weaponized” the government, he insisted.
Seven months later, that denial appears increasingly hollow. Friday’s FBI search of the former national security adviser John Bolton’s home and office, reportedly to find classified documents, marks the fifth investigation targeting people from Patel’s book.
Bolton now joins a growing list of Trump critics from Patel’s roll the administration has targeted with what appear to be retaliatory federal investigations: James Comey, John Brennan, Miles Taylor and Lt Col Alexander Vindman. All five were investigated in just seven months.
The Biden justice department definitively closed both civil and criminal proceedings against Bolton in 2021 over his memoir. Bringing that investigation back to life requires a deliberate decision to re-litigate an already settled matter.
The systematic nature of these investigations exposes the fundamental contradiction in the administration’s approach. When asked for details, an FBI spokesperson said only: “The FBI is conducting court authorized activity in the area. There is no threat to public safety.”
Trump’s reaction to the Bolton investigation undermines claims of prosecutorial independence. He called Bolton “sort of a lowlife” and “could be a very unpatriotic guy – we’re going to find out”.
