Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly shown his wish to see opponents probed, applying influence on the DOJ to charge former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
"We can't delay any longer, it's damaging our standing and trustworthiness," the president wrote last month in a Truth Social post.
"They impeached twice, and charged me (5 times!)" he said, mentioning the multiple legal proceedings he faced after departing the White House in 2021 and James's lawsuit.
Both have since been charged, in cases that many experts have stated appear to be driven by politics and challenging to win in legal proceedings.
But the latest allegations against a Trump critic, ex security advisor John Bolton, differ significantly, legal specialists and ex-prosecutors assert.
"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 Specifics of Bolton's Legal Situation
Bolton has been criminally indicted on federal charges related to the supposed mishandling of sensitive materials. After departing the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a vocal Trump critic, even to call him "remarkably ignorant" and unsuitable for office in his memoir.
Specialists contend that while there may be political reasons to go after Bolton, the procedures used to obtain an indictment and the proof gathered against him indicate a potentially more substantial case than the DOJ presented against Comey.
"This misconduct that's being alleged is simultaneously more serious and seems to have taken place over a considerable duration," commented Carissa Byrne Hessick, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law.
During his time as Trump's national security adviser, and following his 2019 White House exit, authorities claimed that Bolton placed the nation at danger by wrongfully keeping and transmitting sensitive documents to relatives using unprotected methods, including AOL. Several of the documents were marked top secret.
The charge alleges that at one point a hacker accessed to Bolton's account where documents were stored and sent an seeming threat to cause "the largest scandal since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were leaked".
Bolton entered a not guilty plea during a hearing on Friday to eighteen distinct counts of mishandling classified information.
Political Motivation or a Strong Case?
The timing of his indictment - arriving on the tails of charges against James - has revived concerns about political pressure on the justice system.
Trump previously implied Bolton belonged in prison, and called him a "sleazebag". Bolton, for his part, wrote a book about his time in the Trump administration that was sharply negative of the president.
"Undoubtedly that the schedule of this charge, when paired with others, has prompted questions about the validity of these charges, and why these charges are being filed now," said Jamil Jaffer, founder and director of the National Security Institute.
However, he continued, "if the Justice Department is capable to prove the facts stated and demonstrate the material is properly designated, his conduct may certainly have broken the statute".
Charging such a senior official for improperly handling classified documents is "rare" but not unprecedented, noted Carrie Cordero, a expert at the Center for a New American Security.
"Cases that concern classified information present difficulties to prosecute, but they may and are brought against equally junior and high-level officials, from occasionally," she explained.
Similarities to Examinations into Former President and Biden
Trump likewise faced allegations of improperly keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and obstructing their return, but that matter was ultimately dismissed by a court official and voided by his return as president.
A independent investigator also found that former President Joe Biden wrongfully stored sensitive materials from his period as vice president, but failed to prosecute him.
Bolton's situation bears similarities to Biden's sensitive materials issues, said Mr Lesko, who also held a senior national security role at the DOJ.
Rigorous procedures regulate the handling of sensitive materials. To secure a conviction, the government must prove that Bolton was aware the material he was transmitting was classified, and he had to knowingly transfer it to someone not entitled to receive it.
"Due to the sensitive character of the material at question in this case, we don't have a lot of particulars about the reasons the prosecution contends things like the diary entries and the other information he shared by email, and why there were restricted," said Mr Jaffer.
A Increasingly Conventional Prosecution
The procedure by which the DOJ initiated this legal action will be closely examined, after Trump publicly posted his desire to see his critics prosecuted and several of those charges materialized.
But Mr Lesko said in Bolton's case, prosecutors appear to have followed protocol.
"This Bolton prosecution and eventually the indictment appeared to have followed the regular procedure including the rules and norms within the Department of Justice," he stated.
Unlike Comey's short, concise indictment, Bolton's was a increasingly "conventional" filing that "explicitly outlines the particulars concerning the facts and situation in this instance," Mr Lesko commented.
"It appears fairly aligned with a long line of precedents... where government officials mishandled and transmitted classified material."
