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Former President Donald Trump has consistently shown his desire to see critics investigated, applying pressure on the DOJ to charge former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"We can't delay any longer, it's damaging our reputation and credibility," the president stated recently in a Truth Social message.

"I was impeached me, and charged me (five times!)" he declared, referencing the four criminal cases he faced after leaving the White House in 2021 and James's lawsuit.

Each have subsequently been indicted, in situations that numerous specialists have stated seem to be politically motivated and difficult to win in court.

But the latest charges against a Trump critic, ex national security adviser John Bolton, stand apart, legal specialists and former prosecutors say.

"I would say, comparing Bolton's charges to Comey's is like equating apples to oranges," stated Mark Lesko, a ex federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York.

The Details of Bolton's Legal Situation

Bolton has been formally charged on federal charges related to the supposed mishandling of classified information. Since departing the White House in 2019, he has become a vocal presidential opponent, even to describe him "remarkably ignorant" and unfit for the presidency in his book.

Specialists contend that while there may be political motivations to go after Bolton, the procedures used to obtain an indictment and the proof compiled against him indicate a possibly stronger case than the Justice Department brought against Comey.

"This misconduct that's being claimed is simultaneously more severe and seems to have taken place over a significant period of time," said Carissa Byrne Hessick, a academic at the University of North Carolina School of Law.

During his tenure as Trump's national security adviser, and following his 2019 White House exit, prosecutors alleged that Bolton put the country at risk by wrongfully keeping and transmitting sensitive documents to relatives using unprotected methods, including AOL. Several of the materials were marked top secret.

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

Bolton pleaded not guilty during a court appearance on recently to 18 distinct charges of mishandling sensitive materials.

Political Motivation or a Substantial Legal Argument?

The timing of his charge - arriving on the tails of charges against James - has renewed concerns about external influence on the justice system.

Trump once implied Bolton should be in jail, and described him a "sleazebag". Bolton, for his part, authored a book about his time in the Trump administration that was sharply negative of the leader.

"Undoubtedly 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, founder and director of the National Security Institute.

Nevertheless, he continued, "should the Justice Department is capable to prove the facts alleged and show the information is correctly classified, his behavior may very well have broken the statute".

Charging such a high-ranking official for improperly handling classified documents is "rare" but not unprecedented, noted Carrie Cordero, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

"Situations that concern classified information present difficulties to try, but they can and are filed against equally low-level and high-level personnel, from occasionally," she said.

Parallels to Examinations into Trump and Biden

Trump similarly faced allegations of wrongfully keeping sensitive materials at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and hindering their recovery, but that matter was eventually dismissed by a court official and voided by his return as leader.

A independent investigator also determined that ex-President Joe Biden improperly maintained sensitive materials from his time as vice president, but failed to prosecute him.

Bolton's situation bears similarities to Biden's sensitive materials matters, said Mr Lesko, who previously held a top security position at the Justice Department.

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

"Due to the sensitive nature of the material at issue in this matter, we don't have a great deal of particulars about the reasons the prosecution contends elements like the personal notes and the additional information he shared by email, and the reason there were restricted," explained Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Traditional Prosecution

The procedure by which the Justice Department initiated this legal action will be closely examined, following Trump openly expressed his wish to see his critics charged and some of those charges came to fruition.

But Mr Lesko said in Bolton's situation, authorities appear to have followed protocol.

"This Bolton prosecution and eventually the indictment seemed to have followed the regular process including the regulations and standards within the Department of Justice," he said.

In contrast to Comey's short, concise charge, Bolton's was a increasingly "traditional" document that "clearly outlines the particulars involving the circumstances and situation in this instance," Mr Lesko said.

"It seems reasonably aligned with a series of precedents... where public servants improperly handled and shared sensitive information."