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Ex-President Donald Trump has repeatedly shown his desire to see critics investigated, exerting influence on the DOJ to prosecute ex FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"We cannot postpone any longer, it's killing our reputation and credibility," the president stated last month in a Truth Social message.

"I was impeached twice, and indicted me (5 times!)" he declared, mentioning the multiple legal proceedings he encountered after leaving the White House in 2021 and James's civil case.

Each have since been charged, in cases that many specialists have said appear to be politically motivated and challenging to win in court.

But the latest allegations against a presidential opponent, former security advisor John Bolton, stand apart, legal experts and ex-prosecutors assert.

"I would say, comparing Bolton's case to Comey's is like equating apples to oranges," said Mark Lesko, a former acting US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

This Details of the Legal Situation

Bolton has been formally charged on national allegations pertaining to the alleged mishandling of sensitive materials. Since leaving the White House in 2019, he has become a vocal Trump critic, even to describe him "remarkably ignorant" and unsuitable for office in his memoir.

Experts contend that while there may be political motivations to go after Bolton, the methods used to obtain an indictment and the proof gathered against him suggest a potentially more substantial legal argument than the DOJ presented against Comey.

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

Throughout his time as Trump's security advisor, and following his 2019 White House departure, authorities claimed that Bolton placed the country at risk by improperly keeping and transmitting sensitive documents to relatives using unprotected methods, including AOL. Several of the documents were labeled highly classified.

The indictment states that at a certain time a hacker gained access to Bolton's system where files were kept and sent an seeming warning to cause "the biggest controversy since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were released".

Bolton pleaded not guilty during a hearing on recently to 18 distinct counts of improperly handling sensitive materials.

Political Motivation or a Strong Legal Argument?

The timing of his indictment - coming on the tails of charges against Comey - has revived concerns about political pressure on the legal system.

Trump previously suggested Bolton belonged in prison, and called him a "disreputable person". Bolton, for his role, authored a publication about his experience in the Trump government that was sharply negative of the leader.

"There's no question that the schedule of this indictment, when combined with additional cases, has prompted doubts about the strength of these allegations, and why these counts are being filed at this time," stated Jamil Jaffer, founder and director of the National Security Institute.

However, he added, "should the Justice Department is capable to prove the allegations alleged and show the information is properly designated, his behavior may very well have violated the law".

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

"Cases that concern sensitive materials pose difficulties to prosecute, but they may and are filed against equally junior and high-level personnel, from time to time," she said.

Parallels to Examinations into Former President and President

Trump similarly faced allegations of improperly storing sensitive materials at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and obstructing their recovery, but that case was eventually dismissed by a court official and negated by his re-election as president.

A independent investigator additionally determined that former President Joe Biden improperly stored sensitive materials from his time as second-in-command, but failed to criminally charge him.

Bolton's situation shares characteristics to Trump's classified documents issues, said Mr Lesko, who also held a top national security role at the Justice Department.

Strict protocols regulate the management of sensitive materials. To secure a conviction, the prosecution must demonstrate that Bolton knew the information he was transmitting was restricted, and he had to knowingly transmit it to someone not entitled to receive it.

"Due to the sensitive character of the information at issue in this case, we lack a great deal of details about why the prosecution contends elements like the diary entries and the additional material he shared by email, and why there were restricted," explained Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Conventional Prosecution

The procedure by which the Justice Department initiated this case will be closely examined, following Trump publicly expressed his desire to see his political opponents charged and some of those charges came to fruition.

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

"The Bolton case and ultimately the indictment seemed to have observed the regular process including the rules and standards within the Department of Justice," he stated.

Unlike Comey's short, concise indictment, Bolton's was a increasingly "conventional" document that "clearly sets forth the details involving the circumstances and situation in this instance," Mr Lesko said.

"It appears fairly consistent with a long line of precedents... where government officials mishandled and transmitted sensitive information."