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

"We cannot postpone further, it's damaging our reputation and credibility," the president stated recently in a social media message.

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

Both have subsequently been indicted, in situations that numerous experts have stated appear to be politically motivated and challenging to win in court.

But the most recent charges against a presidential opponent, ex security advisor John Bolton, differ significantly, legal specialists and former prosecutors say.

"In my opinion, comparing Bolton's charges to Comey's is like comparing apples to oranges," stated Mark Lesko, a former acting US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

This Details of the Legal Situation

Bolton has been formally charged on federal charges pertaining to the supposed improper handling of sensitive materials. After leaving the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a vocal presidential opponent, going so far as to describe him "stunningly uninformed" and unfit for office in his book.

Specialists say that while there may be political reasons to target Bolton, the procedures used to obtain an indictment and the evidence compiled against him suggest a potentially stronger legal argument than the DOJ brought against James.

"This misconduct that's being alleged is simultaneously more severe and appears to have taken place over a significant duration," said 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 alleged that Bolton placed the nation at danger by wrongfully keeping and sending classified information to family members using insecure means, including AOL. Several of the materials were marked top secret.

The charge states that at a certain time a hacker accessed to Bolton's system where documents were kept and transmitted an seeming threat to cause "the biggest controversy since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were released".

Bolton entered a not guilty plea during a hearing on recently to eighteen separate charges of improperly handling classified information.

Retribution or a Strong Legal Argument?

The timing of his charge - coming on the tails of allegations against Comey - has renewed questions about political pressure on the legal system.

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

"There's no question that the timing of this indictment, when combined with others, has raised doubts about the strength of these allegations, and the reason these charges are being brought now," said Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of the National Security Institute.

Nevertheless, he added, "if the Justice Department is capable to prove the allegations alleged and show the material is properly designated, his conduct may certainly have broken the law".

Prosecuting such a senior figure for mishandling classified documents is "rare" but not without precedent, said Carrie Cordero, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

"Cases that concern classified information pose challenges to prosecute, but they may and are filed against equally low-level and high-level personnel, from time to time," she said.

Parallels to Investigations into Trump and Biden

Trump likewise encountered allegations of wrongfully storing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and hindering their return, but that case was eventually dismissed by a court official and negated by his re-election as leader.

A special counsel additionally determined that former President Joe Biden wrongfully stored classified documents from his period as vice president, but did not criminally charge him.

Bolton's case bears similarities to Trump's sensitive materials matters, noted Mr Lesko, who previously held a senior national security position at the Justice Department.

Rigorous procedures regulate the management of sensitive materials. To win a conviction, the government must demonstrate that Bolton knew the material he was transmitting was restricted, and he had to knowingly transmit it to someone without authorization to obtain it.

"Because of the classified character of the material at issue in this matter, we don't have a lot of details about why the prosecution contends elements like the personal notes and the other information he shared by email, and the reason there were restricted," said Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Conventional Legal Action

The procedure by which the DOJ brought this case will be closely examined, following Trump openly expressed his desire to see his critics prosecuted and several of those indictments came to fruition.

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

"The Bolton prosecution and eventually the charge appeared to have observed the standard procedure including the rules and norms within the Department of Justice," he said.

Unlike Comey's brief, two-page indictment, Bolton's was a increasingly "conventional" document that "clearly sets forth the particulars concerning the facts and situation here," Mr Lesko said.

"It seems fairly consistent with a long line of cases... where public servants improperly handled and transmitted sensitive information."