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

"We can't delay further, it's damaging our standing and trustworthiness," the leader stated recently in a Truth Social message.

"I was impeached twice, and indicted me (five times!)" he declared, mentioning the four criminal cases he encountered after departing the White House in 2021 and James's lawsuit.

Both have since been indicted, in cases that many experts have stated appear to be driven by politics and challenging to succeed in legal proceedings.

But the latest charges against a Trump critic, former national security adviser John Bolton, differ significantly, legal specialists and former prosecutors say.

"In my opinion, contrasting Bolton's charges to Comey's is like equating two different things," said Mark Lesko, a ex federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York.

This Details of the Legal Situation

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

Specialists contend that while there may be political motivations to target Bolton, the methods used to secure an indictment and the proof compiled against him indicate a potentially stronger case than the Justice Department presented against James.

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

During his time as Trump's national security adviser, and following his 2019 White House exit, prosecutors alleged that Bolton placed the nation at danger by wrongfully keeping and sending classified information to relatives using unprotected methods, including AOL. Several of the documents were marked top secret.

The indictment states that at a certain time a hacker gained access to Bolton's account where files were stored and transmitted an apparent warning to cause "the largest scandal since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were released".

Bolton entered a not guilty plea during a court appearance on Friday to eighteen separate counts of mishandling sensitive materials.

Retribution or a Substantial Legal Argument?

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

Trump once implied Bolton belonged in jail, and described him a "sleazebag". Bolton, for his role, wrote a publication about his time in the Trump administration that was sharply negative of the president.

"There's no question that the schedule of this charge, when combined with others, has raised questions about the validity of these charges, and the reason these counts are being filed now," said Jamil Jaffer, founder and director of the National Security Institute.

Nevertheless, he added, "should the DOJ is able to prove the allegations stated and demonstrate the material is correctly classified, his conduct may certainly have violated the law".

Prosecuting such a senior official for improperly handling classified documents is "uncommon" but not unprecedented, said Carrie Cordero, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

"Situations that involve sensitive materials present difficulties to try, but they can and are brought against equally junior and senior personnel, from occasionally," she explained.

Parallels to Examinations into Former President and President

Trump likewise encountered charges of improperly storing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and hindering their return, but that case was ultimately dismissed by a federal judge and voided by his re-election as leader.

A special counsel additionally found that ex-President Joe Biden wrongfully stored sensitive materials from his period as vice president, but failed to criminally charge him.

Bolton's case shares characteristics to Biden's sensitive materials matters, said Mr Lesko, who previously held a senior national security position at the DOJ.

Strict protocols govern the management of sensitive materials. To secure a guilty verdict, the prosecution must demonstrate that Bolton knew the information he was transmitting was restricted, and he had to knowingly transmit it to someone without authorization to obtain it.

"Due to the classified nature of the material at issue in this case, we don't have a lot of particulars about why the prosecution believes things like the diary entries and the additional information he shared by email, and why there were restricted," said Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Conventional Prosecution

The procedure by which the Justice Department brought this case will be under scrutiny, following Trump publicly posted his wish to see his critics prosecuted and some of those indictments materialized.

But Mr Lesko indicated in Bolton's case, authorities seem to have adhered to standard procedure.

"This Bolton case and ultimately the charge seemed to have followed the regular procedure including the rules and standards within the Department of Justice," he said.

Unlike Comey's short, concise charge, Bolton's was a more "traditional" document that "clearly sets forth the particulars involving the circumstances and situation in this instance," Mr Lesko commented.

"It appears reasonably aligned with a long line of cases... where public servants improperly handled and shared sensitive information."