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Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his wish to see opponents investigated, exerting influence on the Justice Department to prosecute ex FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"We cannot postpone any longer, it's damaging our standing and credibility," the leader wrote last month in a social media post.

"I was impeached me, and indicted me (5 times!)" he declared, mentioning the four criminal cases he encountered after departing the White House in 2021 and James's lawsuit.

Each have subsequently been charged, in situations that many specialists have said appear to be driven by politics and challenging to succeed in court.

But the latest allegations against a Trump critic, former security advisor John Bolton, differ significantly, legal specialists and former prosecutors say.

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

This Details of Bolton's Case

Bolton has been criminally indicted on federal charges related to the alleged mishandling of sensitive materials. After departing the White House in 2019, he has become a outspoken Trump critic, going so far as to call him "remarkably ignorant" and unfit for office in his memoir.

Specialists contend that while there may be political motivations to target Bolton, the methods used to obtain an indictment and the proof gathered against him suggest a potentially more substantial case than the Justice Department brought against James.

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

Throughout his tenure as Trump's security advisor, and following his 2019 White House exit, authorities alleged that Bolton placed the nation at risk by improperly keeping and sending sensitive documents to family members using insecure means, including AOL. Several of the documents were marked highly classified.

The charge alleges that at a certain time a unauthorized user accessed to Bolton's system where documents were stored and sent an apparent warning to cause "the largest scandal since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were released".

Bolton pleaded not guilty during a hearing on recently to 18 distinct counts of mishandling sensitive materials.

Political Motivation or a Strong Case?

The schedule of his indictment - coming on the heels of charges against Comey - has renewed concerns about external influence on the legal system.

Trump previously implied Bolton should be in prison, and called him a "sleazebag". Bolton, for his part, authored a publication about his time in the Trump administration that was sharply negative of the president.

"There's no question that the timing of this indictment, when paired with additional cases, has prompted questions about the validity of these allegations, and the reason these counts are being filed at this time," stated Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of the National Security Institute.

Nevertheless, he continued, "should the Justice Department is capable to prove the facts stated and demonstrate the material is properly designated, his conduct may very well have broken the law".

Prosecuting such a senior official for mishandling sensitive materials is "uncommon" but not unprecedented, said Carrie Cordero, a expert at the Center for a New American Security.

"Cases that concern classified information pose difficulties to prosecute, but they can and are brought against equally junior and senior personnel, from occasionally," she explained.

Parallels to Investigations into Trump and Biden

Trump likewise faced allegations of improperly keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and hindering their return, but that case was eventually dismissed by a court official and voided by his re-election as president.

A special counsel additionally found that ex-President Joe Biden improperly maintained sensitive materials from his period as vice president, but did not prosecute him.

Bolton's case shares characteristics to Trump's sensitive materials issues, said Mr Lesko, who previously held a senior national security position at the DOJ.

Strict procedures regulate the management of sensitive materials. To secure a conviction, the prosecution must prove that Bolton was aware the material he was transmitting was restricted, and he had to knowingly transmit it to someone without authorization to receive it.

"Due to the classified character of the material at question in this matter, we lack a great deal of details about why the government believes elements like the diary entries and the additional material he communicated by email, and the reason there were classified," explained Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Traditional Legal Action

The process by which the Justice Department initiated this legal action will be under scrutiny, after Trump publicly expressed his wish to see his political opponents prosecuted and some of those charges materialized.

But Mr Lesko said in Bolton's situation, prosecutors appear to have followed standard procedure.

"This Bolton case and ultimately the charge seemed to have followed the standard process including the rules and standards within the Department of Justice," he said.

In contrast to Comey's short, concise charge, Bolton's was a increasingly "conventional" document that "clearly outlines the particulars involving the facts and circumstances in this instance," Mr Lesko said.

"It seems reasonably aligned with a long line of precedents... where public servants improperly handled and transmitted sensitive information."