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

"We can't delay any longer, it's killing our reputation and credibility," the president stated recently in a social media post.

"I was impeached me, and charged me (5 times!)" he said, referencing the four criminal cases he faced after departing the White House in 2021 and James's civil case.

Each have subsequently been charged, in situations that numerous specialists have said seem to be politically motivated and difficult to win in legal proceedings.

But the most recent allegations against a presidential opponent, former national security adviser John Bolton, stand apart, legal specialists and ex-prosecutors say.

"I would say, contrasting Bolton's case to James' is like comparing two different things," said Mark Lesko, a former federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York.

This Details of the Case

Bolton has been criminally indicted on federal charges pertaining to the supposed mishandling of classified information. After leaving the White House in 2019, he has become a outspoken Trump critic, going so far as to call him "remarkably ignorant" and unfit for the presidency in his book.

Specialists say that while there may be political reasons to go after Bolton, the procedures used to obtain an indictment and the evidence gathered against him indicate a potentially stronger case than the DOJ brought against Comey.

"These actions that's being claimed is simultaneously more severe and appears to have occurred over a considerable duration," commented Carissa Byrne Hessick, a professor 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 placed the country at risk by wrongfully retaining and transmitting classified information to relatives using unprotected methods, including AOL. Some of the documents were marked highly classified.

The indictment alleges that at a certain time a unauthorized user gained access to Bolton's system where documents were stored and transmitted an apparent warning to cause "the biggest scandal since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were released".

Bolton pleaded not guilty during a court appearance on recently to 18 distinct counts of mishandling classified information.

Retribution or a Strong Legal Argument?

The schedule of his indictment - coming on the heels of allegations against Comey - has revived concerns about political pressure on the justice system.

Trump previously implied Bolton belonged in prison, and described him a "sleazebag". Bolton, for his role, authored a book about his experience in the Trump administration that was highly critical of the leader.

"Undoubtedly that the timing of this indictment, when combined with additional cases, has prompted doubts about the strength of these allegations, and why these charges are being brought now," said Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of the National Security Institute.

Nevertheless, he continued, "if the DOJ is able to demonstrate the facts alleged and demonstrate the material is properly classified, his behavior may certainly have broken the statute".

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

"Cases that concern sensitive materials pose difficulties to prosecute, but they may and are brought against both low-level and high-level officials, from time to time," she explained.

Similarities to Investigations into Former President and President

Trump similarly faced charges of wrongfully storing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and hindering their return, but that matter was eventually dismissed by a court official and voided by his re-election as president.

A independent investigator also determined that ex-President Joe Biden wrongfully stored sensitive materials from his period as second-in-command, but did not criminally charge him.

Bolton's situation shares characteristics to Biden's sensitive materials matters, said Mr Lesko, who also held a senior security role at the DOJ.

Strict procedures govern the management of sensitive materials. To secure a guilty verdict, the prosecution must prove that Bolton knew the material he was sending was restricted, and he had to intentionally transmit it to someone without authorization to obtain it.

"Due to the classified nature of the information at question in this case, we don't have a great deal of details about the reasons the government believes elements like the diary entries and the additional information he communicated by email, and why there were restricted," said Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Traditional Prosecution

The process by which the Justice Department brought this legal action will be under scrutiny, after Trump openly expressed his wish to see his critics charged and several of those charges came to fruition.

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

"The Bolton case and ultimately the charge seemed to have observed the regular process including the regulations and standards within the Department of Justice," he said.

Unlike Comey's short, two-page charge, Bolton's was a increasingly "traditional" filing that "explicitly outlines the particulars involving the circumstances and circumstances here," Mr Lesko said.

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