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

"We cannot postpone any longer, it's killing our standing and credibility," the president wrote recently in a social media post.

"They impeached twice, and charged me (5 times!)" he said, mentioning the four criminal cases he faced after leaving the White House in 2021 and James's civil case.

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

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

"In my opinion, contrasting Bolton's case to Comey's is like comparing two different things," stated Mark Lesko, a former acting US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

The Details of Bolton's Case

Bolton has been formally charged on federal charges pertaining to the alleged mishandling of classified information. Since departing the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a outspoken presidential opponent, going so far as to describe him "stunningly uninformed" and unfit for the presidency in his book.

Experts contend that while there may be political reasons to go after Bolton, the procedures used to obtain an charge and the proof gathered against him indicate a possibly stronger legal argument than the DOJ brought against Comey.

"This misconduct that's being alleged is simultaneously more severe and appears to have taken place over a considerable duration," said Carissa Byrne Hessick, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law.

Throughout his time as Trump's national security adviser, and following his 2019 White House exit, authorities claimed that Bolton put the nation at risk by wrongfully retaining and sending classified information to relatives using insecure means, including AOL. Some of the materials were labeled highly classified.

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

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

Retribution or a Substantial Legal Argument?

The schedule of his charge - coming on the tails of allegations against James - has renewed concerns about external influence on the legal system.

Trump once implied Bolton should be in jail, and described him a "disreputable person". Bolton, for his role, 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 charge, when combined with additional cases, has raised doubts about the validity of these allegations, and the reason these charges are being filed at this time," stated Jamil Jaffer, founder and director of the National Security Institute.

Nevertheless, he added, "if the DOJ is capable to prove the facts stated and demonstrate the information is properly designated, his conduct may very well have violated the law".

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

"Cases that concern sensitive materials pose challenges to try, but they can and are brought against equally junior and senior personnel, from time to time," she said.

Similarities to Investigations into Former President and Biden

Trump similarly encountered charges of wrongfully keeping sensitive materials at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and hindering their recovery, but that matter was ultimately thrown out by a federal judge and voided by his re-election as leader.

A independent investigator also determined that ex-President Joe Biden wrongfully stored sensitive materials from his period as second-in-command, but failed to criminally charge him.

Bolton's case shares characteristics to Biden's classified documents issues, noted Mr Lesko, who also held a top national security position at the DOJ.

Strict procedures govern the management of classified documents. To win a guilty verdict, the prosecution must demonstrate that Bolton knew the information he was sending was restricted, and he had to knowingly transfer it to someone not entitled to receive it.

"Because of the classified character of the material at issue in this case, we don't have a great deal of details about the reasons the prosecution believes elements like the diary entries and the other material he communicated by electronic message, and why there were restricted," explained Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Conventional Prosecution

The process by which the DOJ initiated this case will be under scrutiny, following Trump openly posted his wish to see his critics prosecuted and several of those charges came to fruition.

But Mr Lesko indicated in Bolton's situation, prosecutors appear to have adhered to protocol.

"This Bolton prosecution and ultimately the charge appeared to have observed the standard process including the regulations and norms within the DOJ," he stated.

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

"It seems reasonably consistent with a series of cases... where public servants mishandled and shared sensitive information."