FBI Raids John Bolton’s Home Over Alleged Classified Doc Scandal: “Air-Tight” Case Shelved by Biden Admin

Federal agents stormed the Maryland home and D.C. office of former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton on Friday, and word on the street is it's tied to some seriously shady handling of classified documents. 

We're talking "highly sensitive national security documents" allegedly emailed to his wife and daughter [possibly for their entertainment]. So now, ever Bolton’s family is in the crosshairs of this mess. According to top FBI brass spilling the beans to The New York Post, this isn't some fishing expedition. The feds have what they call an "air-tight" case, sparked by a "very specific intelligence capacity" back in 2020 that caught Bolton red-handed transferring classified files from his White House desk to his kin. This isn't about his 2020 tell-all book, The Room Where It Happened, which already had its own probe. No, this is a whole new can of worms, and it has the stink of betrayal all over it.

Here's the wild part: the Biden administration reportedly "shelved" this investigation for four years. You heard that right; four years of sitting on evidence that Bolton was allegedly jeopard enough to share our nation's secrets with his family like it's a holiday newsletter. 

A senior FBI official didn't hold back, telling the newspaper: "The [Biden administration] had probable cause to know that he had taken material that was detrimental to the national security of the United States, and they made no effort to retrieve it." That's not just dropping the ball; that's spiking it into the Potomac.

This same official went full scorched-earth: "That was a friendly administration to [Bolton.] They kept bashing [Trump] the entire time for 'weaponizing law enforcement,' and they, by politically stopping a righteous investigation, are the ones who weaponized law enforcement." It’s like watching a fox guard the henhouse while lecturing you about animal rights.

Now, let's talk about the raid. The feds didn't knock politely, they tore through Bolton's Maryland pad and D.C. office, scooping up "a lot" of evidence from his home and "a bunch" more from his office, per sources. [It's kind of reminiscent of when the FBI went full SWAT on Paul Manafort's home during Trump's first administration.]

Sounds like they hit the motherlode with Bolton. And get this: FBI Director Kash Patel only learned about this buried case a month after his February confirmation when he demanded a briefing on sensitive matters. He initially thought it was tied to the book probe, but agents set him straight: "Nah, boss, this is a different beast, and Biden’s team kept it on ice."

Bolton, who spent 17 months as Trump’s national security adviser from April 2018 to September 2019, has been one of the loudest anti-Trump voices out there, trashing his former boss at every turn. Guess he thought he could skate free while pointing fingers. But the feds aren't playing favorites now. They're confident in their case, though sources say Bolton's wife and daughter aren't likely to face charges. 

And the bottom line, if the allegations hold, is that Bolton is not just a disgruntled ex-employee, he's a walking national security risk who played fast and loose with secrets that keep America safe. And the Biden crew allegedly looked the other way while preaching about "justice." 

The swamp never disappoints, folks. 

And if you want to Buy Me A Coffee, I wouldn't stop you--it supports my work and I really appreciate it. But no pressure.

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Trump hires new defense lawyer the day before court appearance

On Monday, just one day before he is due to appear for his New York City arraignment, white collar defense attorney Todd Blanche was hired by former President Trump to represent him. [H/T Fox News Digital]

Blanche will defend Trump in the case brought against him by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg. He will join Trump's other defense attorney Joe Tacopina along with other lawyers on Trump's team. 

The source for Fox News Digital said that Blanche will be "additional firepower" to the Trump legal team.

Blanche has a winning history in which he represented Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman. 

Blanche previously represented Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman. Manafort was charged as part of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation in 2019, and pleaded guilty to foreign lobbying and witness tampering, as well as tax fraud and conspiracy.

Trump's political arraignment comes after he was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on Thursday after a year-long prosecutorial targeting of him by Alvin Bragg, who has been soft on violent crime in New York, but tough on finding crime in Donald Trump. 

Another term for what Bragg is doing should be called "lawfare."

The former president traveled from Palm Beach, Florida to New York City on Monday ahead of the Tuesday arraignment scheduled for arrival at 11:00 a.m. and arraignment at 2:15 p.m.

Supposedly, he will not be handcuffed when he surrenders, nor will his New York residence be raided by fully armed FBI agents and SWAT teams designed to take him out if he twitches. If he is made to take a mugshot, I have an idea for a tee shirt.

The charges Trump faces are unclear as the indictment is still under seal until the arraignment, but if it's what might be expected, it's baseless and unconstitutional. However, this remains to be seen.

So tomorrow is a big day for Trump, the nation, and my prostate exam.

I wish us all luck.

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Treasury employee charged with leaking financial info on Trump team

Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards, 40, a woman with a lot of names and a lot of brass marbles was arrested and charged by federal authorities. The charge was for leaking financial information regarding former Trump officials. Edwards was caught with her proverbial pants down and toilet paper on her shoes, as she was holding a flash drive containing damning evidence--the stolen information--prosecutors said Wednesday.

The made-for-TV arrest came in the wake of other high-profile, leak-related prosecutions under the Trump administration, and they have pledged to go on the offensive against leakers. President Trump referred to such people as "traitors and cowards," but has not said whether he plans to have them executed as traitors if found guilty.

Imagine if he did.

Natalie Mayflower Sours Edwards [aka: Natalie Mayflower Nina Pinta Santa Maria Sours Edwards] is a [or was a] senior official at the department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Imagine being a top dog in a Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and get caught committing a crime involving the finances of others. You cannot make this stuff up.

She is accused of illegally handing over to a reporter bank reports documenting several suspicious financial transactions, known as Suspicious Activity Reports [aka: SARs, not to be confused with the severe acute respiratory syndrome also known as SARS with a big "S"], from October 2017 to the present.

The financial transactions she pilfered and provided to a reporter [who remains anonymous] involved Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort, campaign official Richard Gates, accused Russian agent Maria Butina, and the guys and gals in the Russian Embassy.

Edwards saved the SARs, "along with thousands of other files containing sensitive government information," to a government-provided flash drive, prosecutors said. She allegedly transmitted the SARs to the reporter by "taking photographs of them and texting the photographs" using an encrypted app.

Very James Bond. Very Mitch Rapp. Very Brian Alexander [the hero of my next novel to be released sometime before Hell freezes over].

Although the journalist's name wasn't disclosed in court papers, the documents list over ten stories published by BuzzFeed News over the past 18 months, but a spokesman for the outlet declined to comment.

This case is likely the first criminal prosecution arising from leaks about targeted individuals by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe in the Russia investigation. Gates pleaded guilty and Manafort was found guilty of various bank and tax crimes, having nothing to do with President Trump.

In a Wednesday hearing, federal magistrate judge Theresa Buchanan released Edwards and all of her names on their own recognizance, subject to the custody of her parents. She, along with her mom and dad, also signed a $100,000 bond as part of her release. Edwards faces two charges, each carrying a maximum sentence of five years in the slammer and a $250,000 fine.

Edwards is currently on administrative leave at Treasury, FinCEN spokesman Steve Hudak said.

"In her position, Edwards was entrusted with sensitive government information. As we allege here today, Edwards violated that trust when she made several unauthorized disclosures to the media," FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney Jr. said in a statement. "Today's action demonstrates that those who fail to protect the integrity of government information will be rightfully held accountable for their behavior."

Geoffrey Berman, U.S. attorney in Manhattan, where the criminal complaint was filed, said that Edwards "betrayed her position of trust by repeatedly disclosing highly sensitive information." She is alleged to have taken photos of the confidential documents and sent them to a reporter using an encrypted messaging app, according to court papers. This clearly shows she was aware of the illegality of her actions.

In addition, she also sent the same reporter internal Treasury Department emails, investigative memos and intelligence assessments, according to prosecutors.

According to court papers, federal investigators obtained a court order to monitor the calls to and from the associate director's personal cellphone, and that monitoring captured the frequency of contacts with the reporter via the encrypted messaging application.

If convicted, Edwards may continue working for Treasury from her prison cell along with several unnamed colleagues in cellblock B.

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Manafort sent to the slammer

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was sent to the slammer Friday after a federal judge revoked his $10 million bail. New witnesses tampering charges were brought by Special Counsel Robert "Gonna Git Trump" Mueller.

Washington, D.C. Federal District Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered Manafort to jail pending his trial moment before pleading not guilty to the charges brought against him and his Moscow associate Konstantin Kilimnik.

Mueller accused the dynamic duo of obstructing justice in the Russian meddling investigation and potential collusion with Trump campaign associates in 2016.

Mueller alleged in a filing last week that Manafort and Kilimnik "knowingly and intentionally attempted to corruptly persuade another person . . . with intent to influence, delay, and prevent the testimony of any person in an official proceeding."

This third superseding indictment against Manafort came days after the special counsel accused him of witness tampering, which is almost as bad as a high ranking government official keeping an illegal private server with highly classified material on it in a Colorado toilet.

Manafort's spokesman said that the former Trump operative was "innocent." And even Manafort, 69, has also maintained his innocence.

They're always innocent.

The spokesman, Jason Maloni, said that Manafort and his team of lawyers were reviewing the new charges. "Mr. Manafort is innocent and nothing about the latest allegation changes our defense," Maloni said. "We will do our talking in court."

Court documents state that Manafort reached out to potential witnesses in February after his superseding indictment was unsealed and allegedly tired to make at least three phone calls and send two encrypted text messages to a potential witness "in an effort to secure materially false testimony . . ." the special counsel claimed.

The court documents state that the potential witness was trying to avoid contact with Manafort and "understood Manafort's outreach to be an effort to 'suborn perjury.'"

Like those who oppose President Trump, there's a special place in hell for people who witness tamper.


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Manafort and Gates plead 'not guilty'

The Mueller drama ended early Monday morning after an announcement was made Friday that there would be an indictment in the Russian election meddling scandal. 

As many thought, the person who most likely would be the target of the indictment was Paul Manafort. His associate, Rick Gates, was also indicted with him, on 12 counts by a federal grand jury. The special counsel headed by Robert Mueller, handed down the indictment regarding the meddling and potential collusion with Trump campaign officials in the 2016 presidential election.

The counts told to Fox News include conspiracy against the United States (not the same as treason, but conspiracy not to pay them money owed to the feds); conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading Foreign Agent Registration (FARA) statements, false statements and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign banks and financial accounts.

The alleged miscreants appeared before Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson on Monday for their initial appearance and arraignment.

The indictment states that between 2006 and 2015, both Manafort and Gates acted as unregistered agents of the Government of Ukraine, the Party of Regions--a Ukrainian political party whose leader was Victor Yanukovych, president from 2010 to 2014, and the Opposition Bloc.

No mention of the Trump campaign was mentioned in the indictment as all the activity mentioned occurred well before the campaign of 2016.

The indictment states that both Manafort and Gates laundered the money through scores of US and foreign corporations, bank accounts and partnerships to hide Ukraine payments for U.S. authorities.

Manafort laundered over $18 million which was used by him to buy property, goods and services in the U.S. and concealed it from the U.S. Treasury and Department of Justice.

That's a 'no, no.'



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Selective leftist outrage

"After my election, I have more flexibility."--Barack Obama to Russian President Medvedev on 'hot mic'

It's almost laughable how the left sounds the alarm over an alleged relationship of the Trump administration with the Russians. 

They point out how Paul Manafort was an adviser to the Ukrainian president, a pro-Russian and how Carter Page, another Trump adviser, was involved in energy deals with Russian companies. And how Jeff Sessions actually spoke to a Russian official while on the Senate Armed Services Committee--even though it's a normal part of his job.

And of course, there's Michael Flynn and the speech he gave in Moscow as a private citizen . . . and so on.

As Peter Schweizer said, in an article for Fox News, it's important to examine these relationships, but "Still, those pushing the narrative of troubling ties to Russia lose all credibility by wholly ignoring the far deeper and more troubling relationships the Clintons and their closest aides have maintained with Russian government officials for years, including while they were in public office."

But the big difference here is that the Clinton deals involved enormous favors that benefitted Russian interests and involved hundreds of millions of dollars.

Like the speech Bill Clinton gave in Moscow in 2010 and received half a million dollars. Renaissance Capital, a Moscow firm paid the fee--a firm with close ties to Russian intelligence, and they admit it proudly.

No Russian donor was too embedded in Russian concerns to refuse. Schweizer mentions the following: 

Victor Vekselberg: a Putin confidant and head of Renova Group

Andrey Vavilov: a former Russian government official and Chairman of SuperOx, a research company that was part of "nuclear Cluster" at a government research facility

Elena Buturina: wife of a former Mayor of Moscow. She appeared to donate to the Clintons via JSC Inteco which she controls

And of course we have the 2010 Uranium One deal in which the Clinton Foundation received $145 million in "donations" from a Canadian uranium company that was sold to the Russian government. In order to seal the deal, several U.S. federal agencies needed to approve it, including Hillary's State Department. The Russians ended up with 20 percent of America's uranium which went to Rosatom, an entity that controls Russia's nuclear arsenal.

The fact that some of the Clinton Foundation donations were not disclosed by the Clintons should trouble all of us. President Obama required the Foundation to disclose all contributions as a condition of Hillary Clinton becoming Secretary of State, but she didn't. It was the Canadian tax records that uncovered the deal.

Then there's one of Hillary's closest aides, John Podesta who actually went into business with the Russian government while a Hillary Clinton adviser as Secretary of State.

Podesta was on the executive board of an energy company called Joule Unlimited. The Russian government invested a billion rubles (about $35 million) in the company. The money came from an investment fund called Rusnano, a fund started in 2007 by Putin and described as "Putin's Child" by Russian Education and Science Minister Andrei Fursenko.

Rusnano investments could also have military applications and it would be surprising if it didn't.

When Podesta went to the White House in 2014, where he served as counselor to Obama, he did not disclose his board membership in one of the Joule entities on his financial disclosure form. 

But the hypocritical left isn't concerned about what appears to be an actual intimate relationship with the Russians because it had nothing to do with Donald Trump.


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