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Former President Donald Trump has consistently expressed his wish to see opponents probed, applying pressure on the DOJ to charge ex FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"We cannot postpone further, it's killing our standing and credibility," the leader wrote recently in a Truth Social message.

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

Each have subsequently been charged, in situations that many specialists have said appear to be politically motivated and challenging to win in legal proceedings.

But the most recent allegations against a Trump critic, former national security adviser John Bolton, differ significantly, legal specialists and former prosecutors say.

"I would say, contrasting Bolton's charges to Comey's is like comparing two different things," 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 federal charges related to the alleged mishandling of classified information. After departing the White House in 2019, he has emerged as 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 charge and the evidence gathered against him indicate a potentially stronger case than the DOJ brought against Comey.

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

Throughout his time as Trump's security advisor, and following his 2019 White House departure, prosecutors claimed that Bolton placed the country at danger by wrongfully keeping and sending classified information to relatives using insecure means, including AOL. Some of the materials were marked top secret.

The indictment alleges that at one point a unauthorized user accessed to Bolton's system where files were kept and sent an seeming threat to cause "the biggest scandal since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were released".

Bolton entered a not guilty plea during a hearing on Friday to 18 distinct counts of mishandling sensitive materials.

Retribution or a Substantial Case?

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

Trump once suggested Bolton belonged in prison, and described him a "disreputable person". Bolton, for his role, wrote a publication about his experience in the Trump administration that was sharply negative of the leader.

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

However, he added, "if the DOJ is capable to prove the facts alleged and demonstrate the material is correctly classified, his behavior may certainly have broken the law".

Charging such a senior official for mishandling classified documents is "uncommon" but not unprecedented, noted Carrie Cordero, a expert at the Center for a New American Security.

"Situations that involve classified information present challenges to prosecute, but they may and are brought against both low-level and high-level officials, from time to time," she said.

Similarities to Examinations into Trump and President

Trump similarly faced charges of wrongfully storing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and obstructing their return, but that matter was ultimately thrown out by a federal judge and voided by his re-election as leader.

A special counsel additionally found that ex-President Joe Biden improperly maintained sensitive materials from his period as vice president, but failed to prosecute him.

Bolton's situation shares characteristics to Biden's sensitive materials issues, said Mr Lesko, who also held a top national security position at the DOJ.

Rigorous protocols regulate the handling of sensitive materials. To win a conviction, the prosecution must prove that Bolton knew the material he was sending was classified, and he had to intentionally transmit it to someone not entitled to obtain it.

"Due to the classified character of the material at issue in this case, we don't have a lot of details about the reasons the prosecution contends things like the personal notes and the additional information he communicated by email, and why there were classified," said Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Conventional Legal Action

The process by which the Justice Department brought this legal action will be under scrutiny, after Trump publicly expressed his wish to see his political opponents prosecuted and several of those indictments came to fruition.

But Mr Lesko said in Bolton's case, authorities seem to have followed protocol.

"This Bolton prosecution and eventually the charge appeared to have followed the standard process including the regulations and norms within the DOJ," he said.

Unlike Comey's short, two-page indictment, Bolton's was a more "traditional" document that "explicitly sets forth the details involving the circumstances and situation here," Mr Lesko said.

"It seems fairly consistent with a series of precedents... where public servants improperly handled and shared classified material."