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Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to see opponents investigated, exerting pressure on the DOJ to charge former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"We cannot postpone further, it's killing our standing and credibility," the president wrote recently in a Truth Social message.

"They impeached twice, and charged me (five times!)" he said, mentioning the four criminal cases he faced after leaving the White House in 2021 and James's civil case.

Both have subsequently been indicted, in cases that numerous experts have stated appear to be driven by politics and challenging to succeed in legal proceedings.

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

"In my opinion, comparing Bolton's case to James' is like equating apples to oranges," stated Mark Lesko, a former federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York.

The Details of Bolton's Case

Bolton has been criminally indicted on national allegations pertaining to the alleged mishandling of sensitive materials. After leaving the White House in 2019, he has become a vocal Trump critic, even to call him "stunningly uninformed" and unfit for the presidency in his book.

Specialists say that while there may be political motivations to target Bolton, the procedures used to obtain an indictment and the evidence compiled against him suggest a potentially stronger legal argument than the DOJ brought against Comey.

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

During his time as Trump's security advisor, and following his 2019 White House exit, authorities alleged that Bolton put the nation at risk by wrongfully retaining and transmitting sensitive documents to relatives using insecure means, including AOL. Some of the materials were labeled top secret.

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

Bolton entered a not guilty plea during a court appearance on recently to 18 separate counts of improperly handling sensitive materials.

Retribution or a Substantial Legal Argument?

The timing of his charge - arriving on the heels of allegations against James - has revived questions about external influence on the legal system.

Trump once implied Bolton belonged in prison, and described him a "disreputable person". Bolton, for his part, authored a publication about his experience in the Trump government that was highly critical of the president.

"Undoubtedly that the timing of this charge, when combined with additional cases, has raised questions about the validity of these charges, and the reason these charges are being filed at this time," stated Jamil Jaffer, creator and executive director of the National Security Institute.

Nevertheless, he added, "should the Justice Department is able to demonstrate the allegations stated and demonstrate the information is correctly designated, his behavior may certainly have broken the law".

Prosecuting such a high-ranking figure for improperly handling sensitive materials is "rare" but not unprecedented, noted Carrie Cordero, a expert at the Center for a New American Security.

"Situations that concern sensitive materials present challenges to prosecute, but they may and are filed against both low-level and senior personnel, from time to time," she said.

Parallels to Examinations into Former President and President

Trump likewise faced charges of improperly storing sensitive materials at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and obstructing their recovery, but that case was ultimately thrown out by a federal judge and voided by his re-election as leader.

A special counsel additionally found that ex-President Joe Biden improperly stored classified documents from his period as vice president, but failed to prosecute him.

Bolton's situation bears similarities to Trump's classified documents matters, noted Mr Lesko, who also held a senior national security position at the Justice Department.

Rigorous protocols govern the management of classified documents. To secure a guilty verdict, the prosecution must demonstrate that Bolton knew the information he was sending was restricted, and he had to intentionally transmit it to someone not entitled to obtain it.

"Due to the classified character of the information at question in this matter, we don't have a great deal of particulars about why the prosecution believes elements like the diary entries and the additional information he shared by email, and why there were classified," said Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Conventional Legal Action

The process by which the Justice Department brought this legal action will be under scrutiny, following Trump publicly posted his desire to see his critics prosecuted and some of those charges materialized.

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

"This Bolton case and eventually the indictment seemed to have observed the standard procedure including the rules and standards within the Department of Justice," he stated.

In contrast to Comey's short, concise indictment, Bolton's was a more "conventional" document that "explicitly outlines the details involving the facts and circumstances here," Mr Lesko said.

"It appears fairly consistent with a long line of cases... where public servants mishandled and transmitted classified material."