Photos posted by some US news outlets show police vehicles and personnel in the area near Bolton's home in the Washington DC suburb of Bethesda, Maryland.

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents have searched the home of John Bolton, Donald Trump's former national security adviser, who has become a vocal critic of the US President.

“NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission,” Mr Patel, the FBI director, wrote on social media shortly after the raid began.