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

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

"I was impeached twice, and charged me (five times!)" he said, referencing the multiple legal proceedings he encountered after departing the White House in 2021 and James's lawsuit.

Each have subsequently been charged, in situations that numerous experts have stated appear to be driven by politics and challenging to win in court.

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

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

This Details of the Legal Situation

Bolton has been criminally indicted on national allegations related to the alleged improper handling of classified information. Since leaving the White House in 2019, he has become a outspoken presidential opponent, going so far as to describe him "remarkably ignorant" and unfit for office in his memoir.

Specialists say that while there may be political reasons to go after Bolton, the procedures used to obtain an charge and the evidence compiled against him indicate a potentially stronger legal argument than the Justice Department brought against Comey.

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

Throughout his time as Trump's national security adviser, and after his 2019 White House exit, authorities alleged that Bolton placed the nation at danger by improperly retaining and transmitting classified information to relatives using insecure means, including AOL. Some of the documents were labeled top secret.

The indictment states that at one point a hacker gained access to Bolton's account where files were stored and transmitted an apparent threat to cause "the biggest scandal since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were released".

Bolton entered a not guilty plea during a court appearance on recently to 18 separate counts of mishandling classified information.

Political Motivation or a Substantial Legal Argument?

The timing of his indictment - arriving on the tails of charges against Comey - has revived questions about political pressure on the justice system.

Trump once implied Bolton should be in prison, and called him a "disreputable person". Bolton, for his part, authored a book about his time in the Trump government that was highly critical of the leader.

"There's no question that the schedule of this indictment, when paired with additional cases, has raised doubts about the strength of these allegations, and the reason these charges are being brought now," said Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of the National Security Institute.

Nevertheless, he added, "should the DOJ is capable to demonstrate the allegations stated and demonstrate the information is correctly designated, his conduct may very well have broken the statute".

Charging such a senior official for improperly handling sensitive materials is "uncommon" but not without precedent, noted Carrie Cordero, a expert at the Center for a New American Security.

"Cases that concern classified information pose difficulties to prosecute, but they can and are brought against both junior and high-level personnel, from occasionally," she explained.

Similarities to Investigations into Former President and President

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

A independent investigator additionally determined that ex-President Joe Biden wrongfully maintained classified documents from his period as vice president, but did not prosecute him.

Bolton's case bears similarities to Trump's classified documents issues, said Mr Lesko, who previously held a top security position at the DOJ.

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 knowingly transfer it to someone not entitled to receive it.

"Due to the classified character of the information at question in this matter, we lack a great deal of details about the reasons the prosecution believes things like the diary entries and the additional information he shared by email, and the reason there were restricted," explained Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Traditional Legal Action

The procedure by which the DOJ brought this legal action will be under scrutiny, following Trump openly posted his desire to see his critics prosecuted and several of those indictments came to fruition.

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

"The Bolton case and eventually the charge appeared to have observed the standard procedure including the rules and norms within the DOJ," he stated.

Unlike Comey's short, two-page indictment, Bolton's was a more "conventional" filing that "clearly sets forth the particulars concerning the circumstances and circumstances in this instance," Mr Lesko said.

"It appears fairly consistent with a long line of precedents... where public servants improperly handled and transmitted classified material."