‘Militarization of politics’: How bucolic Bethesda woke up to FBI search on John Bolton

By Isabelle Khurshudyan, CNN

(CNN) — Robert Hill called in sick to work when he heard about what was happening in his Bethesda, Maryland. Every major cable news network was broadcasting from a house just a few streets away, but Hill had to see it for himself.

When he got to the street where President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton lives, Hill pulled out his phone to record video of the scene along with other neighborhood gawkers.

Cars parked in the grass lined the narrow two-lane road. Directly across from Bolton’s home, there was a wall of TV news cameras focused on his front door. The driveway was full of unmarked vehicles – the FBI agents who’d arrived around 7 a.m. Friday to conduct a court-authorized search warrant.

Bolton was not at home for the search, but his wife was seen talking to agents on the front porch when they first arrived in the morning.

For much of the morning and early afternoon, the tree-lined, leafy patch of this affluent suburb 10 miles from downtown Washington was the focus of national attention.

“There’s a lot of strange things going on in DC right now,” said Nigel Hughes, a Bethesda resident and DC walking tour guide who also stopped by. “And now it comes to my own doorstep, so that’s fascinating.”

Even in a neighborhood that’s used to the trappings of Washington’s elite, the moment felt extraordinary — an FBI search on a former member of the sitting president’s own administration.

With its large, gated residences and manicured front lawns, Bethesda is a popular place for politicians, as well as current and former administration officials, and it’s not unusual to see security details posted outside houses.

That’s how everyone in the neighborhood knew where Bolton lived. Located on a busy street that connects two larger throughways, people living in the area used to see Secret Service at the house every day – until earlier this year, when Trump terminated Bolton’s security detail right after taking office again.

“It almost doesn’t seem real,” Hill said. “This is just wrong. It’s almost certainly political retribution.”

When several FBI agents walked out of the house, Hill called out to them from across the street, “Don’t violate people’s rights! Citizens are watching you!”

Cars driving by throughout the day slowed down to take pictures of the commotion or yell something out the windows. As the search stretched into the afternoon, some people arrived to protest what they considered to be an example of Trump using law enforcement to attack a political foe.

A 16-year-old girl held up a sign that said, “There’s only one file we care about, and it’s not here,” and cars honked in support as they went past. Earlier, a black Mustang convertible drove by as the passenger held up a “Jail Trump Forever” posterboard.

The searches on Bolton’s home and office Friday were part of a renewed investigation into whether he disclosed classified information in his 2020 book, CNN reported. Bolton served as Trump’s national security adviser in his first term, but the president fired him and the two have been at odds ever since.

Prominent Trump critic George Conway said he lives just 10 minutes from Bolton’s house, so he was one of the first to arrive to the scene, figuring he could stop for a coffee on his way back home.

Using his cellphone, Conway streamed the search from in front of the house and then later changed his name on the social mediate site X to George “Action News” Conway. One local resident asked him for a photo before she staked out the area for several hours alongside journalists.

“This is very serious, what’s going on,” Conway said. “But at the same time, you have to show these people that you’re not afraid. And the way you show them you’re not afraid is by showing up and speaking your piece and pointing out the absurdity. Everyone’s got to stick up for each other.”

Several neighbors who walked by remarked that they weren’t fans of Bolton or his politics. But residents were disturbed, they said, when Bolton’s secret service detail was pulled earlier this year despite threats against him from Iran.

Then on Friday, the idyllic hamlet became the center of a political firestorm.

“I’m getting more pissed off the longer I stand here looking at this,” said Heidi Moskowitz, who walked by Bolton’s house with her husband, David, while on a walk with their chihuahua, Peanut.

She said she’d been recently avoiding going to DC since Trump ordered a federal takeover of the city police and National Guard members were to the nation’s capital as part of a crime crackdown that’s drawn heavy criticism from locals.

“The only thing that would make this more heinous than the FBI squad here is if the National Guard shows up,” David Moskowitz said. “It’s the militarization of politics.”

This story and headline have been updated.

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