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Ex-President Donald Trump has repeatedly shown his wish to see opponents probed, applying influence on the DOJ to charge former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"We cannot postpone further, it's damaging our standing and trustworthiness," the leader stated last month in a Truth Social post.

"They impeached me, and indicted me (5 times!)" he said, referencing the multiple legal proceedings he encountered after departing the White House in 2021 and James's lawsuit.

Both have subsequently been charged, in situations that numerous specialists have stated seem to be driven by politics and challenging to succeed in court.

But the latest allegations against a Trump critic, ex security advisor John Bolton, differ significantly, legal experts and former prosecutors assert.

"I would say, contrasting Bolton's charges to James' is like equating apples to oranges," said Mark Lesko, a ex federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York.

This Specifics of Bolton's Case

Bolton has been formally charged on federal charges related to the supposed mishandling of classified information. Since departing the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a outspoken Trump critic, even to call him "remarkably ignorant" and unsuitable for office in his book.

Experts say that while there may be political reasons to target Bolton, the procedures used to secure an charge and the evidence gathered against him suggest a potentially stronger legal argument than the Justice Department brought against Comey.

"These actions that's being claimed is simultaneously more severe and appears to have taken place over a significant period of time," 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 exit, prosecutors claimed that Bolton placed the nation at risk by wrongfully retaining and sending sensitive documents to family members using unprotected methods, including AOL. Several of the documents were marked highly classified.

The charge alleges that at a certain time a hacker accessed to Bolton's account where documents were stored and sent an apparent warning to cause "the largest scandal since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were released".

Bolton pleaded not guilty during a hearing on recently to eighteen distinct counts of improperly handling sensitive materials.

Retribution or a Strong Case?

The schedule of his charge - arriving on the tails of allegations against Comey - has renewed concerns about political pressure on the legal system.

Trump once suggested Bolton belonged in prison, and called him a "disreputable person". Bolton, for his part, authored a book about his time in the Trump government that was highly critical of the president.

"Undoubtedly that the schedule of this indictment, when combined with others, has prompted doubts about the strength of these charges, and why these charges are being filed at this time," stated Jamil Jaffer, founder and director of the National Security Institute.

Nevertheless, he added, "if the DOJ is capable to demonstrate the allegations stated and demonstrate the material is correctly classified, his conduct may very well have broken the law".

Prosecuting such a high-ranking figure for mishandling sensitive materials is "rare" but not without precedent, noted Carrie Cordero, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

"Cases that involve sensitive materials pose difficulties to prosecute, but they may and are brought against equally low-level and high-level personnel, from time to time," she said.

Similarities to Examinations into Former President and Biden

Trump similarly faced allegations of improperly keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and obstructing their return, but that case was eventually dismissed by a federal judge and negated by his return as president.

A independent investigator also found that former President Joe Biden improperly maintained classified documents from his time as vice president, but failed to criminally charge him.

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

Strict procedures govern the handling of classified documents. To win a conviction, the prosecution must demonstrate that Bolton knew the information he was transmitting was classified, and he had to knowingly transmit it to someone without authorization to receive it.

"Because of the classified nature of the information at issue in this matter, we lack a lot of details about the reasons the prosecution believes things like the diary entries and the other material he shared by electronic message, and why there were classified," explained Mr Jaffer.

A More Traditional Legal Action

The procedure by which the DOJ initiated this case will be under scrutiny, following Trump openly expressed his desire to see his political opponents prosecuted and several of those charges came to fruition.

But Mr Lesko indicated in Bolton's case, prosecutors seem to have followed protocol.

"The Bolton prosecution and ultimately the indictment seemed to have observed the standard process including the regulations and standards within the DOJ," he said.

Unlike Comey's short, two-page charge, Bolton's was a increasingly "traditional" filing that "explicitly sets forth the details involving the circumstances and situation here," Mr Lesko commented.

"It appears fairly consistent with a series of precedents... where public servants mishandled and transmitted sensitive information."