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Ex-President Donald Trump has consistently shown his desire to see critics probed, applying pressure on the Justice Department to charge former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

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

"They impeached twice, and charged me (5 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 charged, in cases that many specialists have said appear to be politically motivated and difficult to win in legal proceedings.

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

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

This Specifics of Bolton's Legal Situation

Bolton has been criminally indicted on national allegations pertaining to the alleged improper handling of sensitive materials. Since departing the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a vocal Trump critic, going so far as to call him "stunningly uninformed" and unsuitable for office in his book.

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

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

During his time as Trump's security advisor, and after his 2019 White House departure, prosecutors alleged that Bolton put the nation at risk by wrongfully keeping and sending sensitive documents to relatives using insecure means, including AOL. Several of the materials were marked highly classified.

The charge states that at one point a unauthorized user gained access to Bolton's account where files were stored and transmitted an seeming threat to cause "the largest controversy since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were leaked".

Bolton entered a not guilty plea during a hearing on recently to eighteen distinct charges of mishandling sensitive materials.

Retribution or a Substantial Legal Argument?

The schedule of his indictment - arriving on the tails of charges against Comey - has renewed questions about external influence on the legal system.

Trump once suggested Bolton belonged in jail, and described him a "disreputable person". Bolton, for his role, wrote a book about his experience in the Trump administration that was highly critical of the leader.

"There's no question that the timing of this charge, when paired with others, has prompted questions about the validity of these allegations, and why these charges are being filed at this time," said Jamil Jaffer, founder and director of the National Security Institute.

Nevertheless, he added, "should the DOJ is able to demonstrate the allegations stated and demonstrate the material is properly designated, his conduct may very well have violated the statute".

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

"Situations that concern classified information pose challenges to prosecute, but they may and are filed against both junior and senior personnel, from time to time," she said.

Parallels to Examinations into Former President and President

Trump similarly faced charges of wrongfully storing sensitive materials at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and obstructing their recovery, but that matter was eventually thrown out by a court official and voided by his return as president.

A special counsel also determined that former President Joe Biden improperly maintained sensitive materials from his period as second-in-command, but failed to prosecute him.

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

Strict protocols regulate the handling of classified documents. To win a guilty verdict, the prosecution must demonstrate that Bolton was aware the information he was sending was classified, and he had to intentionally transmit it to someone not entitled to obtain it.

"Because of the sensitive nature of the information at issue in this matter, we don't have a great deal of details about why the prosecution contends elements like the diary entries and the additional information he shared by email, and the reason there were restricted," explained Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Conventional Legal Action

The procedure by which the DOJ initiated this case will be closely examined, following Trump openly expressed his wish to see his critics prosecuted and some of those charges came to fruition.

But Mr Lesko indicated in Bolton's case, prosecutors seem to have adhered to protocol.

"This Bolton prosecution and ultimately the indictment appeared to have observed the regular procedure including the rules and standards within the DOJ," he stated.

Unlike Comey's brief, concise charge, Bolton's was a more "conventional" filing that "explicitly outlines the particulars concerning the circumstances and circumstances in this instance," Mr Lesko commented.

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