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Ex-President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his wish to see opponents probed, applying influence on the DOJ to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"We cannot postpone any longer, it's damaging our standing and trustworthiness," the president wrote recently in a social media message.

"They impeached twice, and indicted me (5 times!)" he said, referencing the four criminal cases he encountered after departing the White House in 2021 and James's civil case.

Each have subsequently been charged, in situations that numerous experts have said appear to be politically motivated and difficult to win in legal proceedings.

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

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

The Specifics of the Case

Bolton has been formally charged on national allegations related to the supposed improper handling of sensitive materials. Since departing the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a vocal presidential opponent, going so far as to call him "remarkably ignorant" and unsuitable for office in his memoir.

Specialists contend that while there may be political reasons to target Bolton, the methods used to secure an indictment and the evidence gathered against him indicate a possibly stronger case than the Justice Department presented against James.

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

During his tenure as Trump's security advisor, and after his 2019 White House exit, prosecutors alleged that Bolton put the country at risk by improperly keeping and transmitting sensitive documents to family members using unprotected methods, including AOL. Several of the documents were labeled top secret.

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

Bolton entered a not guilty plea during a hearing on recently to eighteen separate counts of improperly handling classified information.

Political Motivation or a Substantial Legal Argument?

The schedule of his indictment - coming on the heels of allegations against Comey - has revived concerns about political pressure on the justice system.

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

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

Nevertheless, he continued, "if the Justice Department is able to prove the facts stated and show the information is properly classified, his conduct may certainly have violated the law".

Charging such a senior 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 sensitive materials present difficulties to try, but they can and are brought against both low-level and high-level officials, from time to time," she explained.

Parallels to Investigations into Former President and President

Trump likewise faced allegations of wrongfully keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and hindering their recovery, but that matter was ultimately thrown out by a federal judge and voided by his return as leader.

A special counsel also determined that ex-President Joe Biden wrongfully maintained sensitive materials from his time as second-in-command, but failed to criminally charge him.

Bolton's case bears similarities to Biden's classified documents matters, said Mr Lesko, who previously held a top national security role at the DOJ.

Rigorous protocols regulate the handling of sensitive materials. To secure a guilty verdict, the government 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 receive it.

"Due to the classified nature of the information at question in this case, we lack a great deal of particulars about why the government believes things like the diary entries and the additional material he shared by email, and why there were restricted," said Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Traditional Legal Action

The procedure by which the DOJ initiated this case will be closely examined, following Trump openly expressed his desire to see his critics charged and some of those charges came to fruition.

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

"This Bolton case and eventually the indictment appeared to have observed the regular procedure including the rules and norms within the Department of Justice," he stated.

In contrast to Comey's short, two-page indictment, Bolton's was a more "conventional" document that "explicitly outlines the particulars involving the facts and situation here," Mr Lesko commented.

"It appears reasonably consistent with a series of cases... where public servants mishandled and shared classified material."