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Ex-President Donald Trump has consistently expressed his desire to see opponents probed, exerting influence on the DOJ to charge ex FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"We can't delay further, it's damaging our reputation and trustworthiness," the president wrote recently in a Truth Social message.

"They impeached twice, and indicted me (five times!)" he declared, mentioning the four criminal cases he encountered after leaving the White House in 2021 and James's civil case.

Each have subsequently been charged, in situations that numerous specialists have said appear to be politically motivated and challenging to succeed in legal proceedings.

But the most recent allegations against a Trump critic, ex security advisor John Bolton, stand apart, legal specialists and former prosecutors say.

"I would say, contrasting Bolton's charges to Comey's is like comparing apples to oranges," said Mark Lesko, a former acting US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

The Specifics of Bolton's Legal Situation

Bolton has been formally charged on federal charges pertaining to the alleged mishandling of classified information. After departing the White House in 2019, he has become a vocal Trump critic, going so far as to describe him "stunningly uninformed" and unsuitable for the presidency in his memoir.

Experts say that while there may be political reasons to go after Bolton, the procedures used to secure an indictment and the evidence gathered against him suggest a possibly stronger case than the Justice Department presented against James.

"These actions that's being alleged is both more severe and appears to have taken place over a significant duration," commented Carissa Byrne Hessick, a academic at the University of North Carolina School of Law.

Throughout his time as Trump's national security adviser, and after his 2019 White House departure, authorities alleged that Bolton placed the nation at risk by improperly keeping and transmitting sensitive documents to family members using unprotected methods, including AOL. Several of the materials were labeled top secret.

The charge alleges that at one point a hacker gained access to Bolton's system where files were stored and transmitted an seeming warning to cause "the biggest scandal since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were released".

Bolton entered a not guilty plea during a hearing on recently to eighteen separate charges of improperly handling classified information.

Retribution or a Strong Legal Argument?

The timing of his indictment - coming on the heels of allegations against James - has revived questions about external influence on the legal system.

Trump once suggested Bolton should be in prison, and called him a "disreputable person". Bolton, for his part, authored a publication about his experience in the Trump administration that was highly critical of the president.

"Undoubtedly that the schedule of this charge, when paired with others, has prompted doubts about the strength of these charges, and the reason these counts are being brought at this time," stated Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of the National Security Institute.

Nevertheless, he added, "should the Justice Department is capable to prove the allegations stated and demonstrate the material is properly classified, his behavior may certainly have violated the law".

Prosecuting such a senior figure for mishandling classified documents is "uncommon" but not without precedent, noted Carrie Cordero, a expert at the Center for a New American Security.

"Situations that concern sensitive materials present difficulties to prosecute, but they may and are filed against both junior and senior personnel, from time to time," she explained.

Similarities to Examinations into Trump and Biden

Trump likewise faced allegations of improperly keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and hindering their recovery, but that case was ultimately dismissed by a court official and negated by his return as president.

A independent investigator additionally determined that ex-President Joe Biden improperly maintained sensitive materials from his time as second-in-command, but failed to criminally charge him.

Bolton's case bears similarities to Biden's classified documents matters, said Mr Lesko, who also held a senior national security role at the DOJ.

Strict protocols regulate the management of sensitive materials. To win a conviction, the prosecution must prove that Bolton was aware the material he was sending was restricted, and he had to knowingly transmit it to someone not entitled to receive it.

"Because of the classified character of the material at question in this case, we lack a lot of particulars about why the prosecution believes things like the personal notes and the additional material he communicated by electronic message, and why there were restricted," said Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Traditional Prosecution

The procedure by which the Justice Department brought this legal action will be closely examined, following Trump openly posted his desire to see his political opponents prosecuted and several of those indictments materialized.

But Mr Lesko indicated in Bolton's situation, prosecutors appear to have followed protocol.

"The Bolton case and eventually the indictment seemed to have observed the standard procedure including the regulations and norms within the Department of Justice," he stated.

In contrast to Comey's brief, concise indictment, Bolton's was a increasingly "conventional" document that "clearly sets forth the particulars concerning the facts and situation here," Mr Lesko said.

"It seems reasonably aligned with a long line of precedents... where public servants mishandled and shared sensitive information."