Fox contributor Andrew McCarthy highlights Trump's history of using the FBI and Justice Department for retribution
McCarthy: Bolton's lawyers “will be pounding the theme that Trump said he would be the retribution president and all indications are that that's exactly what's happening”
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From the August 22, 2025, edition of Fox News' The Faulkner Focus
AISHAH HASNIE (SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT): Andy, if you were on John Bolton's team right now, what would you be doing?
ANDREW MCCARTHY (CONTRIBUTOR): Well, I'd be advising Bolton not to make any statements. I understand he hasn't made any. Because obviously you wouldn't — even though he's a person that's very available to the media — you don't want to be commenting on anything until you know, which you would find out if there is ever any charges brought here, what exactly it is that the FBI has seized.
We may not get the warrant for a long time. Those are sealed. They usually come out in discovery if there are any charges brought.
And I think what I would be saying if I were Bolton's lawyers, rather than dealing with the particulars of the case against him, I would go back over the ancient history that I described a little earlier and I would try to tie this into the fact that probably as many as a dozen of Trump's political enemies have come under investigation by the FBI and the Justice Department in this administration. So they will be pounding the theme that Trump said he would be the retribution president and all indications are that that's exactly what's happening.