Vice President JD Vance is facing strong criticism from legal and political experts after commenting on the FBI’s seven-hour raid on Friday morning on former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton’s Maryland home and Washington, D.C. office, reportedly in a search for classified documents.
“The information that provided the basis for the warrant to search John Bolton’s home was based on intelligence collected overseas by the C.I.A., according to people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation,” The New York Times reported. “It involved the mishandling of classified material by Bolton, the people said.”
But some critics charge that the raid is retribution for Bolton’s past and present criticism of the Trump administration. Indeed, reportedly during the raid, Bolton tweeted: “Russia has not changed its goal: drag Ukraine into a new Russian Empire. Moscow has demanded that Ukraine cede territory it already holds and the remainder of Donetsk, which it has been unable to conquer. Zelensky will never do so. Meanwhile, meetings will continue because Trump wants a Nobel Peace Prize, but I don’t see these talks making any progress.”
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Speaking to NBC News (video below), Vice President Vance delivered remarks that suggested the wall constructed after Watergate to separate the White House — including both the president and vice president — from the U.S. Department of Justice may have been compromised, some suggested.
“We’re in the very early stages of an ongoing investigation into John Bolton,” Vance told NBC News’ Kristen Welker, drawing criticism.
“And so if we think that Ambassador Bolton has committed a crime, of course, eventually prosecutions will come,” he also said. “And like I said, if there’s no crime here, we’re not gonna prosecute it.”
Experts responded swiftly.
Harvard Kennedy School Professor Juliette Kayyem is a CNN senior national security analyst and the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Intergovernmental Affairs.
“’We’re’ is the tell,” she wrote. “Who is ‘we’ when the Department of Justice is supposed to be free of political influence,” Kayyem asked.
“‘We’??” wrote U.S. Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY). “JD Vance (and the WH) are clearly involved in — and likely directing — the DOJ investigation of Trump nemesis John Bolton.”
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“Everyone is focusing on the ‘early stages’ remark, but the telling word he used was ‘we’re.’ If this were any other administration, the FBI would be acting independently of the executive branch,” noted The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Rob Tornoe.
“So is the VP @JDVance part of the ‘we’ who are directing an investigation into one of his most vocal critics? Why is that not the natural and horrifying follow up question here?” asked Professor of Law Joseph Mastrosimone.
“It’s notable his response isn’t ‘The Justice Department is operating independently and I don’t have any firsthand knowledge about the investigation,'” wrote Business Insider legal correspondent Jacob Shamsian.
“The Vice President has absolutely no place in the ‘We’ who are investigating a private citizen. Totally corrupt,” declared former Biden White House official Jesse Lee.
Watch the video below or at this link.
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JD Vance: "We're in the very early stages of an ongoing investigation into John Bolton ... if we think Ambassador Bolton committed a crime, of course eventually prosecutions will come ... there's a broad concern about Ambassador Bolton." pic.twitter.com/p7Velzni8l
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 22, 2025