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

"We can't delay any longer, it's damaging our standing and trustworthiness," the president wrote last month in a social media message.

"They impeached me, and charged me (five times!)" he declared, referencing the multiple legal proceedings he encountered after leaving the White House in 2021 and James's lawsuit.

Both have since been charged, in situations that numerous experts have said appear to be driven by politics and challenging to succeed in court.

But the latest charges against a Trump critic, former security advisor John Bolton, stand apart, legal specialists and ex-prosecutors say.

"In my opinion, comparing Bolton's charges to Comey's is like equating apples to oranges," said Mark Lesko, a former federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York.

This Details of the Case

Bolton has been formally charged on federal charges related to the alleged improper handling of classified information. Since departing the White House in 2019, he has become a outspoken presidential opponent, even to call him "stunningly uninformed" and unsuitable for office in his book.

Experts contend that while there may be political motivations to go after Bolton, the procedures used to obtain an charge and the proof compiled against him indicate a potentially more substantial legal argument than the DOJ presented against James.

"This misconduct that's being claimed is both more serious and appears to have taken place over a considerable period of time," commented Carissa Byrne Hessick, a academic at the University of North Carolina School of Law.

During his tenure as Trump's security advisor, and after his 2019 White House exit, prosecutors claimed that Bolton put the nation at danger by wrongfully retaining and sending sensitive documents to family members using insecure means, including AOL. Several of the documents were labeled top secret.

The indictment states that at a certain time a hacker gained access to Bolton's system where files were kept and transmitted an apparent threat to cause "the biggest controversy since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were released".

Bolton pleaded not guilty during a hearing on Friday to eighteen distinct counts of mishandling sensitive materials.

Political Motivation or a Strong Legal Argument?

The timing of his indictment - coming on the tails of allegations against James - has revived concerns about political pressure on the justice system.

Trump once implied Bolton should be in jail, and called him a "sleazebag". Bolton, for his role, authored a publication about his experience in the Trump government that was sharply negative of the president.

"There's no question that the timing of this indictment, when combined with additional cases, has raised questions about the validity of these charges, and the reason these charges are being filed now," stated Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of the National Security Institute.

However, he added, "should the Justice Department is capable to prove the allegations stated and demonstrate the material is correctly classified, his behavior may very well have violated the statute".

Charging such a senior figure for mishandling sensitive materials is "rare" but not without precedent, said Carrie Cordero, a expert at the Center for a New American Security.

"Cases that concern classified information present difficulties to try, but they can and are brought against equally low-level and high-level personnel, from time to time," she explained.

Similarities to Examinations into Trump and President

Trump likewise faced allegations of wrongfully keeping sensitive materials at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and hindering their return, but that matter was ultimately dismissed by a federal judge and negated by his return as leader.

A special counsel additionally found that ex-President Joe Biden wrongfully stored sensitive materials from his time as vice president, but did not criminally charge him.

Bolton's situation shares characteristics to Biden's classified documents issues, noted Mr Lesko, who previously held a senior national security role at the Justice Department.

Rigorous procedures regulate the handling of sensitive materials. To secure a guilty verdict, the prosecution must prove that Bolton knew the material he was transmitting was classified, and he had to knowingly transfer it to someone without authorization to obtain it.

"Due to the sensitive character of the information at issue in this matter, we lack a great deal of details about why the government believes elements like the diary entries and the additional information he communicated by email, and the reason there were restricted," said Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Traditional Prosecution

The procedure by which the Justice Department initiated this case will be closely examined, following Trump publicly expressed his wish to see his critics prosecuted and some of those charges came to fruition.

But Mr Lesko said in Bolton's situation, prosecutors seem to have followed protocol.

"This Bolton case and eventually the indictment appeared to have followed the standard procedure including the regulations and standards within the DOJ," he stated.

In contrast to Comey's brief, two-page indictment, Bolton's was a increasingly "conventional" filing that "clearly sets forth the details concerning the circumstances and circumstances here," Mr Lesko said.

"It appears reasonably aligned with a series of precedents... where public servants mishandled and transmitted classified material."