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Ex-President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to see opponents investigated, exerting pressure on the Justice Department 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 credibility," the leader stated recently in a social media message.

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

Both have since been charged, in situations that numerous specialists have said appear to be driven by politics and difficult to win in court.

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

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

This Details of the Legal Situation

Bolton has been formally charged on federal charges pertaining to the supposed improper handling of classified information. Since departing the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a vocal presidential opponent, going so far as to describe him "remarkably ignorant" and unfit for office in his book.

Experts contend that while there may be political motivations to target Bolton, the procedures used to secure an indictment and the evidence compiled against him indicate a potentially stronger case than the DOJ brought against Comey.

"These actions that's being alleged is both more severe and seems to have taken place over a significant duration," said Carissa Byrne Hessick, a academic 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 retaining and transmitting classified information to family members using insecure means, including AOL. Some of the documents were marked highly classified.

The indictment alleges that at a certain time a hacker accessed to Bolton's account where files were stored and transmitted an apparent warning to cause "the largest scandal since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were leaked".

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

Retribution or a Strong Legal Argument?

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

Trump previously suggested Bolton belonged in jail, and called him a "disreputable person". Bolton, for his part, wrote a book about his experience in the Trump government that was highly critical of the leader.

"There's no question that the timing of this charge, when combined with others, has prompted doubts about the validity of these charges, and why these charges are being filed now," said Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of the National Security Institute.

Nevertheless, he continued, "if the DOJ is able to prove the facts alleged and show the information is properly classified, his conduct may very well have violated the statute".

Charging such a senior figure for improperly handling sensitive materials is "rare" but not unprecedented, said Carrie Cordero, a expert at the Center for a New American Security.

"Cases that concern sensitive materials present challenges to prosecute, but they can and are filed against equally junior and senior personnel, from time to time," she said.

Parallels to Investigations into Trump 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 case was eventually thrown out by a court official and negated by his re-election as leader.

A special counsel also determined that ex-President Joe Biden improperly stored classified documents from his period as second-in-command, but did not prosecute him.

Bolton's situation bears similarities to Biden's sensitive materials issues, noted Mr Lesko, who also held a top security role at the Justice Department.

Rigorous protocols regulate the handling of sensitive materials. To win a conviction, the prosecution must demonstrate that Bolton knew the material he was transmitting was restricted, and he had to intentionally transfer it to someone not entitled to obtain it.

"Due to the classified character of the information at issue in this matter, we lack a great deal of particulars about why the prosecution contends things like the diary entries and the other information he communicated by electronic message, and why there were classified," explained Mr Jaffer.

A More Conventional Legal Action

The procedure by which the DOJ brought this legal action will be under scrutiny, after Trump openly posted his wish to see his political opponents charged and some of those charges came to fruition.

But Mr Lesko indicated in Bolton's case, authorities appear to have followed protocol.

"The Bolton case and ultimately the charge seemed to have followed the standard process including the rules and norms within the Department of Justice," he said.

In contrast to Comey's short, two-page charge, Bolton's was a increasingly "traditional" filing that "explicitly outlines the details involving the circumstances and circumstances in this instance," Mr Lesko commented.

"It appears fairly aligned with a long line of precedents... where government officials improperly handled and shared classified material."