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

"We cannot postpone further, it's killing our standing and trustworthiness," the president stated last month in a social media message.

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

Both have subsequently been indicted, in situations that many specialists have stated seem to be driven by politics and challenging to win in court.

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

"I would say, comparing Bolton's case to James' is like equating two different things," stated Mark Lesko, a ex acting US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

This Specifics of the Legal Situation

Bolton has been criminally indicted on national allegations related to the alleged mishandling of sensitive materials. After leaving the White House in 2019, he has become a vocal Trump critic, even to call him "remarkably ignorant" and unfit for office in his book.

Experts contend that while there may be political reasons to go after Bolton, the methods used to secure an indictment and the proof compiled against him suggest a possibly more substantial case than the Justice Department presented against Comey.

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

During his tenure as Trump's security advisor, and following his 2019 White House departure, prosecutors claimed that Bolton put the country at risk by improperly keeping and transmitting classified information to family members using unprotected methods, including AOL. Some of the documents were labeled highly classified.

The indictment alleges that at a certain time a unauthorized user accessed to Bolton's system where documents were stored and sent an seeming warning to cause "the largest controversy since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were leaked".

Bolton entered a not guilty plea during a hearing on recently to 18 separate charges of improperly handling sensitive materials.

Political Motivation or a Substantial Case?

The timing of his charge - arriving on the heels of charges against James - has renewed questions about external influence on the legal system.

Trump previously implied Bolton belonged in jail, and described him a "disreputable person". Bolton, for his role, wrote a book about his time in the Trump administration that was sharply negative of the leader.

"Undoubtedly that the schedule of this charge, when paired with additional cases, has raised doubts about the validity of these charges, and why these charges are being brought now," stated Jamil Jaffer, founder and director of the National Security Institute.

However, he added, "should the DOJ is capable to demonstrate the facts stated and demonstrate the information is correctly classified, his behavior may very well have broken the statute".

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

"Situations that involve sensitive materials pose difficulties to prosecute, but they may and are brought against both low-level and senior personnel, from occasionally," she explained.

Parallels to Examinations into Former President and President

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

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

Bolton's situation shares characteristics to Biden's classified documents issues, noted Mr Lesko, who also held a top security position at the DOJ.

Rigorous procedures govern the handling of classified documents. To win a conviction, the government must demonstrate that Bolton was aware the information he was transmitting was classified, and he had to knowingly transfer it to someone not entitled to obtain it.

"Due to the sensitive nature of the material at issue in this matter, we lack a lot of particulars about the reasons the government believes things like the diary entries and the other material he shared by email, and the reason there were classified," explained Mr Jaffer.

A More Traditional Legal Action

The procedure by which the Justice Department brought this case will be under scrutiny, following Trump publicly expressed his wish to see his political opponents charged and some of those indictments came to fruition.

But Mr Lesko said in Bolton's situation, authorities seem to have adhered to protocol.

"The Bolton case and eventually the charge seemed to have observed the regular process including the rules and norms within the DOJ," he said.

In contrast to Comey's short, two-page indictment, Bolton's was a increasingly "traditional" document that "clearly outlines the particulars involving the facts and circumstances here," Mr Lesko commented.

"It appears fairly consistent with a series of cases... where government officials mishandled and transmitted sensitive information."