When Liberty Becomes a By-Word for Big Brother

There are moments when the forces of power slip from the shadows of their authority into the glaring light of public scrutiny. Yesterday's vaguely justified FBI raid on former US National Security Advisor John Bolton’s Maryland home is such a moment—a stark reminder that unchecked power does not respect the boundaries of personal privacy, let alone democratic norms.

The Lviv Herald was founded to pierce through propaganda and complacency. We are not denizens of American intrigue, but we are faithful guardians of liberty, wherever its embers persist. So when the FBI, an agency meant to protect constitutional safeguards, resorts to secret searches—with no stated grounds—it should set alarm bells ringing—in Kyiv, Lviv, Washington, and beyond.

Once, law‑enforcement agencies were held to a standard: transparency, at least in process, if not outcome. Even anonymity demanded a modicum of public accountability—“national security” invoked only with weight and words. Now however, we face a world where the murmur of “classified grounds” is a convenient shield against scrutiny. And that is precisely the problem.

Who can forget how authoritarian regimes cloak their abuses in secrecy? Echoes of opaque investigations, hidden justifications, and unchallengeable orders ring all too familiar for Ukrainians. We learn the cost of silence and surrender too well. So we cannot stand idle while institutions across the ocean drift in that same direction.

What were the agents seeking in Bolton’s home? Classified documents? Confidential memos? Without transparency or even a credible explanation, the public is left to speculate—and suspicion of political overreach grows. Only a democracy operating in daylight can keep such suspicions truthful or put them to rest.

Otherwise the suspicion remains that the FBI acted upon the wishes of US President Donald Trump, who holds a grudge against his first-term National Security Advisor for publishing a book the contents of which were previously judicially authorised and which gave a frank and stunning insight into the operation of the first Trump White House. President Trump has publicly threatened retribution against Mr Bolton, and this is what the action of the FBI appear to be.

The FBI is bound to act independently, and not upon the whims of the US President's grudges.

Let us not mince words. The FBI’s actions, whatever their origin or intent, undermine the very principle they purport to uphold: accountability. A democratic society cannot protect its secrets by burying its methods.

To paraphrase the spirit of the Lviv Herald’s mission: we must expose these actions to daylight. Provide a reasonable justification. Allow public discourse to decide whether this was warranted or excessive. Until then, our disquiet is not paranoia—it is prudent vigilance.

Because if power goes unchecked, silence becomes complicity. And freedom—once silenced—dies in hushed rooms behind locked doors.