Iranian hackers taunted former National Security Adviser John Bolton about files allegedly obtained from his email account that they said were classified, wishing «good luck» to «Mr. Mustache» as they threatened to leak the materials, an unsealed search warrant affidavit reviewed by Fox News Digital revealed.

Bolton pleaded not guilty in October to eight counts of transmission of national defense information and ten counts of retention of national defense information. He had been indicted with 18 counts related to the improper handling of classified materials. 

It was July 2021 when Bolton’s assistant contacted the FBI via email to alert them that Iran had obtained access to Bolton’s email account. Bolton’s team had notified the FBI that they would be deleting Bolton’s emails so that the hackers could not obtain any additional sensitive information. 

JOHN BOLTON PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO CHARGES OF SHARING CLASSIFIED INFORMATION

Weeks later, Bolton’s assistant contacted the FBI again to say that he had received threatening emails that were believed to be related to the hack of Bolton’s AOL account.

«The e-mail, the subject of which was ‘Re:New PW,’ as forwarded to the FBI, stated: ‘I do not think you would be interested in the FBI being aware of the leaked content of John’s email (some of which have been attached), especially after the recent acquittal. This could be the biggest scandal since Hillary’s emails were leaked, but this time on the GOP side! Contact me before it’s too late,’» according to the warrant.

In August 2021, Bolton’s assistant flagged another email from the same account that threatened to leak portions of Bolton’s manuscript found in his email.

«OK John…as you want (apparently), we’ll disseminate the expurgated sections of your book by reference to your leaked email,» the email said. «Good luck Mr. Mustache!»

The affidavit in support of the search warrant from a raid on Bolton’s home in September was unsealed and obtained by Fox News Digital. 

The affidavit supporting the search warrant revealed additional details surrounding the case against Bolton.

JOHN BOLTON’S HOME AND OFFICE RAIDED BY FEDERAL AGENTS

‘CLASSIFIED INFORMATION’

According to the unsealed warrant, staff from the White House National Security Council visited Bolton’s home Sept. 10, 2019, to retrieve classified information and any government property following his termination as national security advisor.

The government had created a sensitive compartmented information facility, also known as a SCIF, in Bolton’s home Sept. 17, 2018. That SCIF was decertified Oct. 16, 2019, according to the warrant.

«Based on my education, training and experience, I know that the installation of a SCIF within the TARGET RESIDENCE indicated that Bolton anticipated storing classified materials within the TARGET RESIDENCE during his tenure as APNSA,» the affidavit states. «Once he was no longer APNSA, effective Sept. 10, 2019, his need-to-know expired, and any authorization for having access to the classified documents in the TARGET RESIDENCE was subsequently revoked.»

It was December 2019 when Bolton submitted a draft of his manuscript of «The Room Where It Happened,» his memoir, to Ellen Knight, the National Security Council senior director for records, access and information security management.

Knight acknowledged receipt of the manuscript, according to the warrant, and notified Bolton that «based on a preliminary review, the manuscript appeared to contain significant amounts of classified information, to include information classified at the TOP SECRET level.»

Knight suggested Bolton modify and resubmit the manuscript due to the «large volume of classified information contained» in it.

«Knight indicated that, in all her experience, she had never seen that level of classified material and specificity of detail in a manuscript submitted for review,» the affidavit read. «There were quotes from foreign leaders from negotiations with the President and details of foreign military actions which had not yet been publicly acknowledged by the foreign governments.» 

«Based on her experience in reviewing manuscripts for pre-publication review and the level of detail contained in Bolton’s submission, Knight surmised that Bolton either had an incredible memory or had to be writing from notes he would have taken as APNSA. Knight explained that any such notes were likely classified, fall under the PRA, and should have been turned over by Bolton at the conclusion of his government service,» the affidavit read. 

But on Dec. 13, 2019, Bolton’s team confirmed that he had cleared classified documents and did not possess any additional classified documents at his home.

EX-NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR JOHN BOLTON INDICTED WITH IMPROPER HANDLING OF CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS

The affidavit, though, revealed that in February 2020, Bolton’s assistant wrote an email to the National Security Council to notify them that Bolton was reinstalling a SCIF in his home and needed the contact information for someone at the National Security Council who could accredit the SCIF. That was unusual, according to the warrant, given Bolton was no longer an employee of the U.S. government. 

The National Security Council director of security responded the same day, telling Bolton and his team that installing an accredited SCIF in his home was «not a viable option.» 

It was more than a year later that Bolton’s AOL email account was hacked by a foreign entity, believed to be Iran.

JOHN BOLTON’S HOME AND OFFICE RAIDED BY FEDERAL AGENTS

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton in the White House in 2019.  (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, while Bolton attempted, and failed, to get a second SCIF accredited in his home, Bolton continued to refer to «the archives» in emails to himself and to two other individuals, whose identities remain redacted.

The warrant states that Bolton would designate «certain information» for «the archive,» which the warrant states is likely a physical space within his home.

‘POLITICAL REASONS’ 

The probe into Bolton’s alleged retention of classified documents was first launched years ago but later shut down by the Biden administration «for political reasons,» according to a senior U.S. official.

DEMOCRATS OPPOSED JOHN BOLTON FOR YEARS — UNTIL THEY SOUGHT HIM AS AN ALLY AGAINST TRUMP

The Justice Department under Trump’s first administration argued that Bolton’s 2020 memoir contained classified material and sought to block its publication. A federal judge ultimately allowed the book to be published.

Justice Department lawyers argued the book contained classified national security information covering areas like U.S. intelligence sources and methods, foreign policy deliberations and conversations with foreign leaders.

In June 2021, the Biden Justice Department abandoned both a criminal inquiry and civil lawsuit against Bolton over the memoir, ending the legal battle at that time.

Bolton’s attorney said at the time that a senior career official in charge of the National Security Council’s pre-publication review process conducted a four-month review of the book and, after requiring a number of revisions, concluded that it contained no classified information.

The book contained a damning account of the Trump White House, alleging that Trump once «pleaded» with Chinese President Xi Jinping to aid his re-election campaign, among other missteps.

Trump ousted Bolton from his first administration in 2019 because the pair «disagreed strongly» on policy. 

Bolton has both praised and criticized Trump since leaving his first administration. 

He criticized Trump’s handling of classified documents, which led to an FBI raid on the former president’s Mar-a-Lago home in 2022 and a subsequent federal indictment, but insisted that «the legal process play out.»

BOLTON MAY BE IN HOT WATER AS FBI INVESTIGATION EXPANDS BEYOND CONTROVERSIAL BOOK

Trump initially was indicted on 37 felony counts, later expanded to 40, but the case was ultimately dismissed in July 2024.

In 2022, Bolton said Trump lacked the competence and character to be president.

However, Bolton strongly backed Trump’s military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June, calling it «a decisive action,» «the right thing to do,» and praising its potential to generate «huge change in the Middle East.»

Then-National Security Advisor John R. Bolton listens as then-President Donald J. Trump meets with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte in the Oval Office at the White House July 18, 2019, in Washington.  (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Trump, meanwhile, often has criticized Bolton for pushing U.S. involvement in wars in the Middle East. Bolton served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush from August 2005 to December 2006.

Trump revoked Bolton’s Secret Service detail Jan. 21, the day after Trump’s inauguration as the 47th president, and Bolton said the move showed that Trump was coming after him.

«I think it is a retribution presidency,» Bolton told ABC earlier in 2025, responding to Trump’s move to revoke his security clearance.

Bolton has faced threats from Iran going back years, including an alleged plot to assassinate him in 2021 and the Department of Justice subsequently charging a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for the plot in 2022.

The Iranian threats against Bolton were likely sparked by the January 2020 U.S. strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Quds Force, the Department of Justice reported in 2022. 

Bolton, in October, pleaded not guilty to 18 counts. 

U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Sullivan explained the charges to Bolton and asked if he understood them and the potential penalties of up to ten years per count and a maximum fine of $250,000 per count. 

«I do your honor,» Bolton said during his arraignment at the federal courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland. 

«From on or about April 9, 2018, through at least on or about August 22, 2025, BOLTON abused his position as National Security Advisor by sharing more than a thousand pages of information about his day-to-day activities as the National Security Advisor — including information relating to the national defense which was classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level — with two unauthorized individuals, namely Individuals 1 and 2,» the indictment reads. «BOLTON also unlawfully retained documents, writings, and notes relating to the national defense, including information classified up to the TOP SECRET/SCI level, in his home in Montgomery County, Maryland.»

The documents Bolton allegedly transmitted were sent to two individuals unauthorized to view classified documents, the indictment said.

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Those documents, according to the indictment, revealed intelligence about future attacks by an adversarial group in another country, a liaison partner sharing sensitive information with the U.S. intelligence community, intelligence that a foreign adversary was planning a missile launch in the future and a covert action in a foreign country that was related to sensitive intergovernmental actions, among other information.

«The FBI’s investigation revealed that John Bolton allegedly transmitted top secret information using personal online accounts and retained said documents in his house in direct violation of federal law,» said FBI Director Kash Patel.  (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

«The FBI’s investigation revealed that John Bolton allegedly transmitted top secret information using personal online accounts and retained said documents in his house in direct violation of federal law,» said FBI Director Kash Patel. «The case was based on meticulous work from dedicated career professionals at the FBI who followed the facts without fear or favor. Weaponization of justice will not be tolerated, and this FBI will stop at nothing to bring to justice anyone who threatens our national security.»

Bolton did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Layne Berthoud, terapeuta ocupacional que vive en Los Ángeles, no esperaba que su reciente publicación en TikTok acumulara casi 5 millones de visitas en cinco días.

“Hoy vi un pájaro”, expresa Berthoud, de 30 años, a su marido, Alexandre Berthoud, en el video. Él hace una pausa, brevemente desconcertado por la noticia.

“¿Ah, sí?”, pregunta.

En ese momento, Alexandre Berthoud, también de 30 años, superó sin saberlo la más reciente prueba viral de las redes sociales para una relación: la teoría del pájaro o teoría del pajarito.

Leé también: La IA entra en la intimidad: el 30% de las parejas ya usa ChatGPT para resolver conflictos

Los pasos iniciales son sencillos. Uno de los integrantes de la pareja le señala un pájaro al otro, o, en una variante habitual, menciona un falso encuentro con un pájaro ocurrido anteriormente, y espera una respuesta. Quien responde con curiosidad supera la prueba. El que no, falla.

La prueba pretende medir la disposición de la pareja para responder lo que los terapeutas llaman “peticiones u ofrecimientos de conexión“, un concepto popularizado por el investigador matrimonial John Gottman.

Gottman, que trabaja con su esposa, Julie, sostiene desde hace tiempo que las parejas más felices reconocen con facilidad y regularidad, o “se acercan a”, los cientos de peticiones que cada persona presenta a la otra a lo largo del día. Un estudio clásico suyo llegó a la conclusión de que las parejas que permanecen casadas se acercan a las propuestas del otro alrededor del 86 por ciento de las veces; las que se separan lo hacen solo el 33 por ciento de las veces. Pero, ¿es realmente la teoría del pájaro una medida significativa de la conexión en una pareja?

“Tengo sentimientos encontrados al respecto”, explicó Carrie Cole, quien, como directora de investigación del Instituto Gottman, sin duda lo sabría. “Queremos que las parejas se acerquen el uno hacia el otro, y una forma de hacerlo es haciendo estas pequeñas peticiones que en realidad no tratan sobre nada: ‘¡Qué pájaro tan genial!’, ‘¡Mirá ese barco!’, ‘¡Que auto tan lindo!’”.

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Lo que le preocupa a Cole es la idea de poner a prueba a la pareja con un escenario artificioso y luego darle demasiada importancia a los resultados.

“¿Y si la pareja falla?”, preguntó. “Porque no son todos perfectos. Las parejas felizmente casadas no son perfectas. ¿Y entonces qué?”.

¿Estamos bien?

El test del pájaro es la vara que mide a las relaciones en las redes sociales, pero no es la única que se popularizó.

En un ejemplo reciente, muchos usuarios de TikTok, en mayoría mujeres, acudieron masivamente a la «teoría de la cáscara de naranja“. (Se debe pedirle a la pareja que haga algo que uno pueda resolver fácilmente, como pelar una naranja. Si la pareja lo logra, ¡bandera verde! Si no, ¡bandera roja!) Varios meses después, se inició el debate sobre el «trato de princesa“.

Alexandra Solomon, psicóloga clínica y presentadora del pódcast Reimagining Love (Reimaginando el amor), sostuvo que ese tipo de pruebas o conversaciones en las redes sociales le recordaban los cuestionarios sobre relaciones que solían aparecer en las revistas para adolescentes y mujeres. (En los videos sobre la teoría del pájaro predominan las mujeres que ponen a prueba a sus parejas masculinas).

Una de las preguntas que suelen darse en las relaciones íntimas y a lo largo de ellas es: “¿Estamos bien? ¿Cómo estamos?”, manifestó, y añadió que siente “mucha compasión” por el auge de este tipo de exámenes.

El gran número de videos recientes sobre la teoría del pájaro, y los millones de visitas que obtienen, dice algo sobre la sed colectiva de saber por qué las relaciones íntimas fracasen o prosperen, sostuvo Solomon. Y estas pruebas pueden ofrecer una sensación de validación.

Leé también: Del enojo al reencuentro: estrategias para superar las peleas en una relación de pareja

“Hay un poco de alarde si la pareja supera una prueba”, expresó Solomon. Publicar un fracaso en la prueba del pájaro puede a su vez crear una especie de camaradería, aseveró, al corresponder con el tópico del “hombre desventurado” tan popular en la actualidad.

Los videos indican una “mirada colectiva a lo que se debe soportar”, señaló Solomon.

‘Una oportunidad para una conversación más profunda’

A pesar de la popularidad de los tests de TikTok, los expertos en relaciones explicaron que esos exámenes o pruebas no suelen ofrecer mucha información significativa sobre la salud de una relación y que obviamente pueden ser contraproducentes.

“Si no superan la prueba, espero que la gente no se lo tome como una señal de que la relación está condenada a fracasar“, formuló Cole. “Espero que lo vean como una oportunidad para una conversación más profunda sobre cómo satisfacer sus necesidades”.

Layne Berthoud está felizmente casada, así que tenía la corazonada de que su marido pasaría la prueba, aunque la mayoría de las parejas de tiktokers “fallaron”, al actuar con desdén u ofreciendo una respuesta tibia.

Alexander Berthoud no tiene TikTok y ni siquiera conocía el video hasta que su mujer lo llamó para decirle que estaba empezando a hacerse viral. Dijo que le hizo gracia los comentarios, la mayoría positivos.

“La gente que debate sobre la vida de otras personas en un video de 30 segundos, y todas las suposiciones que hace, es algo divertido”, manifestó. “Es como un estudio total de la humanidad”.

Pero la pareja sostiene que nunca se pone a prueba de ninguna manera significativa, y que se esfuerzan por estar presentes en su relación todos los días: lavan los platos cuando no les parece, se compran regalos considerados y, sí, aceptan las pequeñas insinuaciones de conexión de cada cual.

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“Si realmente tuviera dudas profundas sobre mi relación, probablemente no lo grabaría”, precisó Layne Berthoud, “y definitivamente no lo publicaría”.

*Catherine Pearson es reportera de la sección Well del Times. Escribe sobre temas de familia y relaciones.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country is making key progress toward becoming a member state of the European Union (EU).

«The European Commission’s Enlargement Package Report confirms: Ukraine is confidently moving toward EU membership and ready to open Clusters 1, 2, and 6,» Zelenskyy wrote Tuesday on X.

«This is the best assessment to date—proof that even as we defend against Russia’s full-scale aggression, Ukraine continues to reform and transform according to European standards.»

Ukraine has been an EU candidate country since it applied for membership in February 2022, days after Russia’s invasion began.

EUROPEAN LEADERS WILL JOIN TRUMP-ZELENSKYY MEETING, SIGNALING SOLIDARITY WITH UKRAINE

The European Commission released its 2025 Enlargement Package Report Tuesday, providing a status update on the progress of Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Serbia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Turkey and Georgia in meeting the conditions for EU membership.

The commission praised Ukraine for showing «remarkable resilience» in the face of Russia’s invasion and a «strong commitment» to its EU accession path, but noted concerns about the country «ensuring a robust and independent anti-corruption framework.»

Zelenskyy signed a controversial bill into law in late July that critics said would undermine the independence of Ukraine’s key anti-corruption agencies, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. Following public protests across Ukraine and international pressure, he signed a new law on July 31 reversing the changes.

The commission called on Ukraine in its report to preserve the independence of anti-corruption institutions and to expand the jurisdiction of NABU.

Ukrainian MPs vote for a bill stripping anti-corruption institutions of their independence on July 22, 2025, in Kyiv, Ukraine. Parliament moved to curtail the autonomy of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. (Andrii Nesterenko/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

«Ukraine has adopted roadmaps on the rule of law, public administration, and the functioning of democratic institutions, as well as an action plan on national minorities, which the Commission assessed positively. Ukraine has met the conditions required to open clusters: one (fundamentals), six (external relations), and two (internal market),» read a press release from the European Commission.

«The Commission expects Ukraine to meet the conditions to open the remaining three clusters and works to ensure that the Council is in a position to take forward the opening of all clusters before the end of the year.»

ZELENSKYY ARRIVES IN WASHINGTON, DC FOR TRUMP MEETING, URGES LASTING PEACE WITH RUSSIA

It added that the Ukrainian government has signaled its objective to provisionally close accession negotiations by the end of 2028.

«The Commission is committed to support this ambitious objective but considers that, to meet it an acceleration of the pace of reforms is required, notably with regards to the fundamentals, in particular rule of law,» the press release continued.

Yulia Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s prime minister, wrote on X that the report showed the country’s best result in three years.

«The course toward EU membership remains among the top priorities of our President, Parliament, and Government,» she said.

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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has blocked Ukraine’s EU accession progress, told reporters in October that he’s proposed a «strategical agreement» with Kyiv instead of advancing talks toward full EU membership.

«Membership is too much,» Orbán explained. «We need [a] strategic agreement only.»