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Ex-President Donald Trump has consistently expressed his wish to see critics investigated, exerting pressure on the Justice Department to charge former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"We cannot postpone any longer, it's killing our standing and trustworthiness," the president stated last month in a social media message.

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

Both have subsequently been indicted, in situations that numerous specialists have said appear to be driven by politics and challenging to win in legal proceedings.

But the most recent charges against a Trump critic, former security advisor John Bolton, differ significantly, legal experts and ex-prosecutors say.

"In my opinion, comparing Bolton's charges to James' is like equating two different things," stated Mark Lesko, a ex federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York.

This Specifics of the Legal Situation

Bolton has been formally charged on national allegations related to the alleged improper handling of sensitive materials. After leaving the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a outspoken presidential opponent, even to describe him "stunningly uninformed" and unsuitable for the presidency in his memoir.

Specialists contend that while there may be political reasons to go after Bolton, the methods used to secure an charge and the evidence gathered against him indicate a potentially stronger legal argument than the DOJ presented against Comey.

"These actions that's being alleged is simultaneously more serious and seems to have taken place over a considerable period of time," commented Carissa Byrne Hessick, a academic at the University of North Carolina School of Law.

During his tenure as Trump's national security adviser, and after his 2019 White House exit, prosecutors alleged that Bolton placed the nation at danger by improperly retaining and transmitting classified information to relatives using unprotected methods, including AOL. Some of the documents were labeled highly classified.

The charge states that at a certain time a hacker gained access to Bolton's system where files were stored and transmitted 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 charges of mishandling classified information.

Political Motivation or a Strong Case?

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

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

"There's no question that the timing of this indictment, when combined with additional cases, has prompted doubts about the validity of these charges, and why these charges are being filed now," said Jamil Jaffer, creator and executive director of the National Security Institute.

However, he continued, "if the Justice Department is able to demonstrate the facts stated and show the material is properly classified, his conduct may certainly have violated the statute".

Charging such a senior figure for improperly handling sensitive materials is "uncommon" but not unprecedented, said Carrie Cordero, a expert at the Center for a New American Security.

"Situations that involve classified information pose challenges to try, but they can and are filed against equally junior and high-level officials, from time to time," she said.

Parallels to Examinations into Former President and President

Trump likewise faced charges of wrongfully storing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and obstructing their return, but that case was eventually dismissed by a court official and negated by his re-election as president.

A special counsel also determined that ex-President Joe Biden improperly maintained sensitive materials from his time as vice president, but failed to criminally charge him.

Bolton's situation bears similarities to Biden's classified documents issues, noted Mr Lesko, who previously held a senior security role at the Justice Department.

Rigorous protocols govern the management of sensitive materials. To secure a conviction, the government must demonstrate that Bolton knew the material he was sending was classified, and he had to knowingly transmit it to someone not entitled to receive it.

"Due to the classified nature of the material at issue in this case, we lack a lot of details about the reasons the government believes things like the diary entries and the additional material he shared by electronic message, and why there were restricted," said Mr Jaffer.

A More Conventional Legal Action

The process by which the DOJ brought this case will be closely examined, following Trump publicly expressed his wish to see his political opponents prosecuted and several of those charges came to fruition.

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

"This Bolton prosecution and ultimately the charge seemed to have observed the regular process including the rules and standards within the DOJ," he said.

In contrast to Comey's short, concise indictment, Bolton's was a increasingly "traditional" filing that "clearly sets forth the particulars involving the circumstances and situation in this instance," Mr Lesko commented.

"It seems fairly aligned with a series of cases... where public servants mishandled and transmitted classified material."