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Ex-President Donald Trump has consistently expressed his wish to see critics probed, applying pressure on the DOJ to prosecute ex FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"We can't delay any longer, it's killing our standing and credibility," the president stated recently in a Truth Social post.

"They impeached twice, and charged me (5 times!)" he declared, referencing the four criminal cases 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 appear to be driven by politics and challenging to win in court.

But the latest charges against a presidential opponent, former security advisor John Bolton, stand apart, legal specialists and former prosecutors say.

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

The Details of Bolton's Legal Situation

Bolton has been criminally indicted on national allegations pertaining to the supposed improper handling of sensitive materials. Since departing the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a outspoken Trump critic, going so far as to call him "remarkably ignorant" and unsuitable for the presidency in his memoir.

Specialists say that while there may be political motivations to go after Bolton, the procedures used to obtain an charge and the proof gathered against him indicate a potentially more substantial legal argument than the DOJ brought against James.

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

Throughout his time as Trump's national security adviser, and after his 2019 White House departure, prosecutors claimed that Bolton put the country at risk by improperly retaining and transmitting classified information to relatives using unprotected methods, including AOL. Some of the documents were marked top secret.

The charge states that at a certain time a hacker gained access to Bolton's account where files were stored and sent an seeming threat to cause "the largest controversy since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were released".

Bolton pleaded not guilty during a court appearance on recently to eighteen distinct charges of improperly handling sensitive materials.

Political Motivation or a Strong Legal Argument?

The timing of his charge - arriving on the heels of allegations against Comey - has renewed concerns about external influence on the legal system.

Trump once suggested Bolton should be in jail, and called him a "sleazebag". Bolton, for his part, authored a book about his experience in the Trump administration that was highly critical of the president.

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

Nevertheless, he continued, "should the Justice Department is able to demonstrate the allegations alleged and show the material is correctly classified, his conduct may very well have broken the statute".

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

"Situations that involve classified information pose difficulties to try, but they may and are filed against both junior and high-level personnel, from occasionally," she explained.

Similarities to Investigations into Former President and President

Trump likewise faced charges of improperly storing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and hindering their return, but that case was eventually thrown out by a federal judge and voided by his re-election as president.

A independent investigator additionally found that ex-President Joe Biden wrongfully stored classified documents from his period as vice president, but did not prosecute him.

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

Strict procedures regulate the management of classified documents. To win a conviction, the prosecution must prove that Bolton was aware the material he was sending was classified, and he had to knowingly transmit it to someone not entitled to receive it.

"Due to the classified nature of the information at question in this case, we don't have a great deal of details about why the prosecution contends things like the personal notes and the other information he shared by email, and why there were classified," said Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Traditional Prosecution

The process by which the DOJ brought this case will be closely examined, following Trump publicly posted his wish to see his critics prosecuted and several of those indictments came to fruition.

But Mr Lesko said in Bolton's situation, prosecutors appear to have adhered to protocol.

"The Bolton case and ultimately the charge appeared to have observed the standard process including the rules and standards within the DOJ," he said.

Unlike Comey's short, concise indictment, Bolton's was a increasingly "traditional" filing that "explicitly sets forth the particulars involving the circumstances and situation here," Mr Lesko said.

"It appears reasonably consistent with a long line of precedents... where government officials improperly handled and transmitted classified material."