Vice President JD Vance said the Trump administration is "in the very early stages of an ongoing investigation into John Bolton" following an FBI raid on the former national security adviser's Maryland home, and denied that the probe is being driven by retribution.
"We are investigating Amb. Bolton, but if they ultimately bring a case, it will be because they determine that he has broken the law," Vance told NBC News' "Meet the Press." "We're going to be careful about that. 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. You should let the law drive these determinations, and that's what we're doing."
He reportedly declined to comment on the specifics of the investigation but did confirm that the case hinges on the storage of classified documents.
"I'll let the FBI speak to that," Vance said. "Classified documents are certainly part of it, but I think that there's a broad concern about, about Amb. Bolton. They're going to look into it.
"And like I said, if there's no crime here, we're not going to prosecute it," he added. "If there is a crime here, of course, Amb. Bolton will get his day in court. That's how it should be. But again, our focus here is on, did he break the law? Did he commit crimes against the American people? If so, then he deserves to be prosecuted."
Vance repeatedly denied that the investigation was launched as a form of retribution for Bolton's outspoken criticism of President Donald Trump.
"I suspect that if the media and the American people let this case actually unfold, if they let the investigation unfold, as it's currently doing, they're going to find out that what we're doing is being very deliberate and being very driven by the national interest, and by the law here and that's as it should be."
The raid, carried out Friday morning, marks the latest development in a yearslong dispute over Bolton's 2020 memoir "The Room Where It Happened," which Trump officials argue contained sensitive national security information.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.