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Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his wish to see critics probed, applying influence on the DOJ to charge ex FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"We can't delay further, it's damaging our reputation and credibility," the president stated last month in a social media message.

"They impeached me, and indicted me (five times!)" he said, referencing the four criminal cases he faced after leaving the White House in 2021 and James's lawsuit.

Each have since been charged, in situations that many specialists have stated appear to be politically motivated and challenging to succeed in legal proceedings.

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

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

This Specifics of Bolton's Case

Bolton has been formally charged on federal charges pertaining to the alleged improper handling of classified information. After leaving the White House in 2019, he has become a outspoken presidential opponent, going so far as to call him "stunningly uninformed" and unfit for the presidency in his book.

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

"These actions that's being alleged is both more serious 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 security advisor, and after his 2019 White House departure, authorities claimed that Bolton put the nation at risk by improperly keeping and sending classified information to family members using insecure means, including AOL. Several of the documents were labeled highly classified.

The indictment states that at a certain time a unauthorized user gained access to Bolton's system where files were kept and sent an apparent warning to cause "the biggest controversy since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were released".

Bolton pleaded not guilty during a court appearance on recently to 18 distinct charges of mishandling sensitive materials.

Retribution or a Substantial Legal Argument?

The timing of his charge - arriving on the tails of charges against James - has renewed concerns about political pressure on the justice system.

Trump previously implied Bolton should be in jail, and called him a "disreputable person". Bolton, for his role, authored a publication about his experience 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 validity of these charges, and why these charges are being brought now," stated Jamil Jaffer, creator and executive director of the National Security Institute.

However, he continued, "if the Justice Department is able to prove the allegations alleged and demonstrate the material is correctly designated, his conduct may certainly have broken the law".

Charging such a senior official for mishandling classified documents is "rare" but not without precedent, noted Carrie Cordero, a expert at the Center for a New American Security.

"Situations that involve sensitive materials pose challenges to try, but they can and are filed against equally low-level and senior officials, from time to time," she explained.

Similarities to Examinations into Trump and Biden

Trump similarly encountered allegations of wrongfully keeping sensitive materials at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and hindering their recovery, but that case was ultimately thrown out by a federal judge and negated by his return as president.

A special counsel also found that ex-President Joe Biden wrongfully stored sensitive materials from his time as second-in-command, but failed to criminally charge him.

Bolton's situation bears similarities to Biden's classified documents issues, said Mr Lesko, who also held a top security position at the DOJ.

Rigorous protocols regulate the handling of sensitive materials. To win a conviction, the prosecution must prove that Bolton knew the material he was sending was restricted, and he had to knowingly transmit it to someone without authorization to receive it.

"Due to the classified nature of the material at question in this case, we don't have a lot of particulars about why the government believes elements like the diary entries and the additional material he shared by electronic message, and the reason there were classified," said Mr Jaffer.

A More Traditional Prosecution

The procedure by which the Justice Department brought this case will be closely examined, after Trump openly expressed his desire to see his critics prosecuted and several of those charges materialized.

But Mr Lesko indicated in Bolton's situation, authorities seem to have adhered to protocol.

"The Bolton case and eventually the charge appeared to have followed the regular procedure including the regulations and standards within the DOJ," he said.

Unlike Comey's brief, concise indictment, Bolton's was a increasingly "traditional" filing that "explicitly sets forth the particulars concerning the circumstances and situation in this instance," Mr Lesko said.

"It appears reasonably consistent with a series of precedents... where government officials mishandled and shared classified material."