{"id":131862,"date":"2025-08-22T16:44:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T00:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/08\/22\/trump-administration-suddenly-understands-laws-protecting-classified-documents-now-that-it-can-be-used-against-his-political-enemies\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T16:44:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T00:44:10","slug":"trump-administration-suddenly-understands-laws-protecting-classified-documents-now-that-it-can-be-used-against-his-political-enemies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/08\/22\/trump-administration-suddenly-understands-laws-protecting-classified-documents-now-that-it-can-be-used-against-his-political-enemies\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Administration Suddenly Understands Laws Protecting Classified Documents Now That It Can Be Used Against His Political Enemies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Early this morning, FBI director Kash Patel cheekily<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FBIDirectorKash\/status\/1958847495028584529\" rel=\"nofollow\"> posted <\/a>on social media \u201cNO ONE is above the law\u2026@FBI agents on mission\u201d as raids were conducted on the Maryland home and Washington, D.C. office of John Bolton, Donald Trump\u2019s national security adviser in his first term. The raid was<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2025\/08\/22\/fbi-raid-john-bolton-trump-patel.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> reportedly <\/a>related to a classified documents probe<\/p>\n<p>Apropos of ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AT ALL, since Bolton was fired in September 2019, he\u2019s been a thorn in Trump\u2019s side. Bolton\u2019s 2020 book \u201cThe Room Where It Happened,\u201d was sharply critical of Trump\u2019s lack of knowledge on all things foreign policy-related. Trump threatened to jail Bolton over the book, and the DOJ launched an investigation into Bolton over the possibility that he \u201cunlawfully disclosed classified information\u201d in said book. That investigation was closed under President Joe Biden.<\/p>\n<p>Trump also lashed out at the media for \u201cconstantly quoting fired losers and really dumb people like John Bolton.\u201d And Trump canceled Bolton\u2019s Secret Service detail (provided in the wake of a assassination plot) shortly after taking office in his second term. Sources close to Bolton now call the current raids \u201cretribution, pure and simple.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And of course, the irony meter is off the charts with news the Trump administration actually cares about how classified documents are handled. In any sane judicial system, Donald Trump himself would have stood trial for his handling of classified documents after his loss in the 2020 presidential election. But the case against Trump was assigned to Trump-appointed district judge Aileen Cannon, who dismissed the case last summer on the, ermmm, novel theory that special counsels are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2024\/07\/judge-cannon-finds-one-weird-trick-to-allow-trump-to-steal-classified-documents\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">somehow illegal<\/a>. The dismissal was on appeal to the Eleventh Circuit when Trump took office, after which the Department of Justice <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/01\/trump-doj-dismisses-stolen-docs-case-it-used-to-bury-special-counsel-report\/https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/01\/trump-doj-dismisses-stolen-docs-case-it-used-to-bury-special-counsel-report\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">dropped<\/a> the appeal. <\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong><em><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-80083 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/06\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568.jpg?resize=174%2C160&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"174\" height=\"160\" title=\"\">Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/1XC11QhFCWxWr4NQrk2sEA\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of <a href=\"https:\/\/legaltalknetwork.com\/podcasts\/thinking-like-a-lawyer\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email <a href=\"mailto:kathryn@abovethelaw.com?subject=Your%20Column\" target='_blank\"' rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">her<\/a> with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/08\/trump-administration-suddenly-understands-laws-protecting-classified-documents-now-that-it-can-be-used-against-his-political-enemies\/%E2%80%9C\/\/twitter.com\/Kathryn1%22%E2%80%9D\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Mastodon <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/08\/trump-administration-suddenly-understands-laws-protecting-classified-documents-now-that-it-can-be-used-against-his-political-enemies\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@Kathryn1@mastodon.social.<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/08\/trump-administration-suddenly-understands-laws-protecting-classified-documents-now-that-it-can-be-used-against-his-political-enemies\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Trump Administration Suddenly Understands Laws Protecting Classified Documents Now That It Can Be Used Against His Political Enemies<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-single__featured-image post-single__featured-image--medium alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/11\/John-Bolton-300x200.jpg?resize=300%2C200&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><figcaption class=\"post-single__featured-image-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(Photo by Alex Wong\/Getty Images)\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Early this morning, FBI director Kash Patel cheekily<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FBIDirectorKash\/status\/1958847495028584529\" rel=\"nofollow\"> posted <\/a>on social media \u201cNO ONE is above the law\u2026@FBI agents on mission\u201d as raids were conducted on the Maryland home and Washington, D.C. office of John Bolton, Donald Trump\u2019s national security adviser in his first term. The raid was<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2025\/08\/22\/fbi-raid-john-bolton-trump-patel.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> reportedly <\/a>related to a classified documents probe<\/p>\n<p>Apropos of ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AT ALL, since Bolton was fired in September 2019, he\u2019s been a thorn in Trump\u2019s side. Bolton\u2019s 2020 book \u201cThe Room Where It Happened,\u201d was sharply critical of Trump\u2019s lack of knowledge on all things foreign policy-related. Trump threatened to jail Bolton over the book, and the DOJ launched an investigation into Bolton over the possibility that he \u201cunlawfully disclosed classified information\u201d in said book. That investigation was closed under President Joe Biden.<\/p>\n<p>Trump also lashed out at the media for \u201cconstantly quoting fired losers and really dumb people like John Bolton.\u201d And Trump canceled Bolton\u2019s Secret Service detail (provided in the wake of a assassination plot) shortly after taking office in his second term. Sources close to Bolton now call the current raids \u201cretribution, pure and simple.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And of course, the irony meter is off the charts with news the Trump administration actually cares about how classified documents are handled. In any sane judicial system, Donald Trump himself would have stood trial for his handling of classified documents after his loss in the 2020 presidential election. But the case against Trump was assigned to Trump-appointed district judge Aileen Cannon, who dismissed the case last summer on the, ermmm, novel theory that special counsels are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2024\/07\/judge-cannon-finds-one-weird-trick-to-allow-trump-to-steal-classified-documents\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">somehow illegal<\/a>. The dismissal was on appeal to the Eleventh Circuit when Trump took office, after which the Department of Justice <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/01\/trump-doj-dismisses-stolen-docs-case-it-used-to-bury-special-counsel-report\/https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/01\/trump-doj-dismisses-stolen-docs-case-it-used-to-bury-special-counsel-report\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">dropped<\/a> the appeal. <\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong><em><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-80083 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2021\/06\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568.jpg?resize=174%2C160&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"174\" height=\"160\" title=\"\">Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/1XC11QhFCWxWr4NQrk2sEA\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Jabot podcast<\/a>, and co-host of <a href=\"https:\/\/legaltalknetwork.com\/podcasts\/thinking-like-a-lawyer\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/cdn-cgi\/l\/email-protection#a1cac0d5c9d3d8cfe1c0c3ced7c4d5c9c4cdc0d68fc2cecc9ed2d4c3cbc4c2d59cf8ced4d3849391e2cecdd4cccf\" target=\"_blank&quot;\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">her<\/a> with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter <a href=\"https:\/\/abovethelaw.com\/2025\/08\/trump-administration-suddenly-understands-laws-protecting-classified-documents-now-that-it-can-be-used-against-his-political-enemies\/%E2%80%9C\/\/twitter.com\/Kathryn1%22%E2%80%9D\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@Kathryn1<\/a>\u00a0or Mastodon <a href=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@Kathryn1%22%22\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@[email\u00a0protected].<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Early this morning, FBI director Kash Patel cheekily posted on social media \u201cNO ONE is above the law\u2026@FBI agents on mission\u201d as raids were conducted on the Maryland home and Washington, D.C. office of John Bolton, Donald Trump\u2019s national security adviser in his first term. The raid was reportedly related to a classified documents probe [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":131863,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG_5243-1-scaled-e1623338814705-620x568-xbGL1m.jpg?fit=620%2C568&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}