John Bolton raid shows weaponization of FBI against Patel’s ‘gangsters’ list

Ex-national security adviser and Trump critic is fifth in a list of 60 to have been investigated in the last seven months

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 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.