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

"We can't delay further, it's killing our standing and trustworthiness," the leader stated last month in a social media post.

"They impeached me, and indicted me (five times!)" he said, referencing the multiple legal proceedings he faced after departing the White House in 2021 and James's lawsuit.

Each have subsequently been charged, in situations that numerous experts have said seem to be politically motivated and challenging to succeed in legal proceedings.

But the latest charges against a presidential opponent, former security advisor John Bolton, differ significantly, legal experts and ex-prosecutors assert.

"In my opinion, comparing Bolton's charges to James' is like comparing apples to oranges," stated Mark Lesko, a former federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York.

This Specifics of the Legal Situation

Bolton has been formally charged on federal charges pertaining to the alleged mishandling of sensitive materials. After leaving the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a outspoken Trump critic, going so far as to call him "stunningly uninformed" and unfit for the presidency in his book.

Experts contend that while there may be political motivations to target Bolton, the methods used to secure an charge and the evidence gathered against him suggest a potentially more substantial case than the DOJ presented against James.

"These actions that's being claimed is simultaneously more serious and seems to have occurred over a considerable duration," said Carissa Byrne Hessick, a academic at the University of North Carolina School of Law.

Throughout his tenure as Trump's security advisor, and after his 2019 White House departure, authorities claimed that Bolton put the nation at risk by improperly retaining and sending classified information to family members using unprotected methods, including AOL. Some of the documents were marked highly classified.

The indictment states that at a certain time a unauthorized user gained access to Bolton's system where documents were kept and transmitted an seeming warning to cause "the biggest scandal since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were released".

Bolton pleaded not guilty during a hearing on Friday to 18 separate charges of mishandling classified information.

Political Motivation or a Substantial Case?

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

Trump once implied Bolton belonged in jail, and described him a "sleazebag". Bolton, for his part, authored a book about his time in the Trump administration that was highly critical of the president.

"Undoubtedly that the timing of this indictment, when paired with additional cases, has prompted questions about the strength of these charges, and why these charges are being brought at this time," said Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of the National Security Institute.

However, he added, "if the DOJ is capable to prove the facts stated and demonstrate the material is properly classified, his conduct may very well have broken the law".

Prosecuting such a high-ranking figure for mishandling sensitive materials is "rare" but not unprecedented, said Carrie Cordero, a expert at the Center for a New American Security.

"Cases that involve sensitive materials pose difficulties to try, but they can and are filed against equally junior and high-level officials, from time to time," she explained.

Parallels to Examinations into Former President and President

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

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

Bolton's case shares characteristics to Trump's sensitive materials matters, noted Mr Lesko, who previously held a top security position at the Justice Department.

Rigorous protocols regulate the handling of sensitive materials. To secure a guilty verdict, the prosecution must demonstrate that Bolton was aware the material he was sending was restricted, and he had to knowingly transmit it to someone not entitled to obtain it.

"Because of the sensitive nature of the material at issue in this matter, we don't have a great deal of details about the reasons the government believes things like the diary entries and the additional information he communicated by electronic message, and the reason there were restricted," said Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Conventional Prosecution

The process by which the Justice Department brought this legal action will be under scrutiny, following Trump openly posted his desire to see his critics prosecuted and several of those charges materialized.

But Mr Lesko indicated in Bolton's situation, prosecutors seem to have followed protocol.

"The Bolton case and ultimately the charge appeared to have followed the standard procedure including the regulations and norms within the DOJ," he stated.

Unlike Comey's short, concise charge, Bolton's was a more "conventional" filing that "explicitly outlines the details involving the facts and situation here," Mr Lesko said.

"It appears fairly aligned with a series of precedents... where public servants mishandled and transmitted sensitive information."