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Ex-President Donald Trump has repeatedly shown his wish 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 further, it's killing our standing and credibility," the leader stated last month in a Truth Social message.

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

Each have subsequently been indicted, in situations that numerous specialists have stated seem to be politically motivated and challenging to succeed in court.

But the latest charges against a Trump critic, former security advisor John Bolton, differ significantly, legal specialists and ex-prosecutors assert.

"I would say, contrasting Bolton's charges to Comey's is like equating apples to oranges," said Mark Lesko, a ex acting US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

The Specifics of Bolton's Legal Situation

Bolton has been criminally indicted on federal charges pertaining to the alleged mishandling of classified information. Since leaving the White House in 2019, he has become a vocal Trump critic, going so far as to describe him "stunningly uninformed" and unsuitable for the presidency in his book.

Specialists contend that while there may be political reasons to target Bolton, the procedures used to secure an indictment and the evidence gathered against him indicate a possibly more substantial case than the Justice Department brought against James.

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

Throughout his time as Trump's national security adviser, and following his 2019 White House exit, prosecutors claimed that Bolton put the country at danger by wrongfully keeping and transmitting classified information to family members using unprotected methods, including AOL. Some of the documents were labeled top secret.

The indictment alleges that at one point a hacker gained access to Bolton's system where documents were kept and sent an seeming warning to cause "the largest controversy since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were released".

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

Retribution or a Strong Legal Argument?

The timing of his indictment - coming on the tails of charges against Comey - has revived concerns about political pressure on the legal system.

Trump previously suggested Bolton belonged in jail, and called him a "disreputable person". 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 schedule of this indictment, when paired with additional cases, has raised questions about the validity of these allegations, and why these charges are being filed at this time," stated Jamil Jaffer, founder and director of the National Security Institute.

However, he continued, "if the Justice Department is capable to demonstrate the allegations stated and demonstrate the material is properly designated, his conduct may very well have broken the statute".

Charging such a high-ranking official for improperly handling classified documents is "uncommon" but not without precedent, noted Carrie Cordero, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

"Situations that concern sensitive materials pose difficulties to try, but they can and are filed against both junior and senior officials, from occasionally," she explained.

Parallels to Investigations into Trump and Biden

Trump likewise faced allegations of wrongfully storing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and hindering their recovery, but that matter was ultimately dismissed by a court official and voided by his return as leader.

A independent investigator also found that ex-President Joe Biden improperly stored classified documents from his time as second-in-command, but did not criminally charge him.

Bolton's situation shares characteristics to Biden's classified documents matters, said Mr Lesko, who previously held a top security role at the DOJ.

Strict protocols regulate the management of sensitive materials. To secure a conviction, the prosecution must demonstrate that Bolton knew the information he was transmitting was classified, and he had to intentionally transmit it to someone without authorization to receive it.

"Because of the sensitive nature of the information at question in this matter, we don't have a lot of details about the reasons the prosecution contends elements like the diary entries and the other information he communicated by email, and why there were restricted," said Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Conventional Legal Action

The process by which the DOJ brought this legal action will be under scrutiny, after Trump openly expressed his desire to see his political opponents charged and some of those charges came to fruition.

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

"This Bolton prosecution and eventually the charge appeared to have observed the standard process including the rules and norms within the DOJ," he said.

In contrast to Comey's brief, two-page charge, Bolton's was a increasingly "traditional" filing that "clearly outlines the particulars involving the circumstances and situation here," Mr Lesko said.

"It seems fairly consistent with a series of precedents... where public servants improperly handled and transmitted sensitive information."