The John Bolton search should be a wake-up call

MSNBC - Early Friday morning, FBI agents searched the home of John Bolton, an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump who previously served as his national security adviser. The early-morning knock on Bolton's door should be a wake-up call to every American. This escalation in the Trump administration's use of law enforcement to target political opposition marks a dangerous new front for American authoritarianism.

The multiyear feud between the president and his former adviser is no secret. Bolton left the first Trump administration after 17 months. Trump claims he fired him, while Bolton said he offered to resign. Since then, Bolton has harshly criticized Trump, alleging that he placed personal political interests over national security.

In the coming days, more information about the investigation will inevitably emerge. And just as inevitably, Trump's critics will denounce the search and his supporters will cheer it, conveniently ignoring their criticism of the Justice Department's 2022 execution of a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago that led to Trump being indicted for mishandling classified documents. Many Americans will shrug off this incident as more partisan warfare in an increasingly hostile arena. But that would be a mistake. Read the full column