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Former President Donald Trump has consistently expressed his desire to see critics investigated, exerting influence on the Justice Department to charge ex FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"We cannot postpone further, it's damaging our reputation and trustworthiness," the president wrote recently in a social media post.

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

Both have subsequently been charged, in cases that many specialists have stated seem to be politically motivated and difficult to succeed in court.

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

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

This Specifics of the Legal Situation

Bolton has been criminally indicted on federal charges pertaining to the supposed mishandling of sensitive materials. Since departing the White House in 2019, he has become a outspoken presidential opponent, even to call him "stunningly uninformed" and unfit for office in his memoir.

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 suggest a possibly more substantial legal argument than the DOJ presented against James.

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

During his time as Trump's national security adviser, and after his 2019 White House exit, prosecutors claimed that Bolton put the nation at risk by improperly keeping and transmitting classified information to family members using unprotected methods, including AOL. Several of the materials were marked highly classified.

The indictment states that at one point a hacker accessed to Bolton's account where files were stored and sent an apparent warning to cause "the largest scandal since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were leaked".

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

Retribution or a Substantial Case?

The schedule of his indictment - arriving on the heels of allegations against Comey - has renewed concerns about external influence on the justice system.

Trump previously suggested Bolton should be in prison, and described him a "sleazebag". Bolton, for his part, wrote a publication about his experience in the Trump government that was highly critical of the president.

"There's no question that the timing of this indictment, when paired with additional cases, has raised doubts about the strength of these allegations, and why these charges are being brought at this time," said Jamil Jaffer, founder and director of the National Security Institute.

However, he continued, "should the DOJ is able to demonstrate the facts stated and demonstrate the material is properly designated, his behavior may certainly have broken the law".

Charging such a high-ranking official for improperly handling classified documents is "uncommon" 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 may and are brought against both junior and high-level officials, from occasionally," she said.

Similarities to Investigations into Former President and Biden

Trump likewise faced charges of wrongfully keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and hindering their recovery, but that case was eventually dismissed by a federal judge and voided by his re-election as leader.

A special counsel also found that ex-President Joe Biden improperly stored classified documents from his time as vice president, but failed to criminally charge him.

Bolton's situation shares characteristics to Trump's sensitive materials matters, said Mr Lesko, who also held a top national security role at the DOJ.

Rigorous procedures govern the management of sensitive materials. To win a conviction, the prosecution must prove that Bolton was aware the material he was transmitting was classified, and he had to knowingly transfer it to someone without authorization to receive it.

"Due to the classified character of the information at question in this matter, we don't have a lot of details about why the prosecution believes things like the personal notes and the additional information he shared by electronic message, and why there were restricted," said Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Traditional Prosecution

The procedure by which the DOJ initiated this legal action will be under scrutiny, after Trump publicly posted his wish to see his political opponents charged and some of those charges materialized.

But Mr Lesko said in Bolton's case, authorities appear to have adhered to protocol.

"The Bolton case and ultimately the charge appeared to have observed the regular process including the rules and standards within the Department of Justice," he said.

Unlike Comey's short, two-page charge, Bolton's was a increasingly "conventional" document that "clearly sets forth the details concerning the circumstances and circumstances here," Mr Lesko said.

"It appears reasonably consistent with a series of precedents... where public servants improperly handled and shared sensitive information."