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

"We cannot postpone further, it's damaging our standing and trustworthiness," the president wrote last month in a social media message.

"I was impeached me, and indicted me (five times!)" he said, referencing the multiple legal proceedings he encountered after leaving the White House in 2021 and James's civil case.

Both have subsequently been indicted, in situations that many experts have stated seem to be politically motivated and challenging to win in legal proceedings.

But the most recent allegations against a presidential opponent, former national security adviser John Bolton, differ significantly, legal experts and former prosecutors assert.

"In my opinion, comparing Bolton's case to James' is like equating apples to oranges," stated Mark Lesko, a ex acting US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

The Specifics of the Legal Situation

Bolton has been criminally indicted on national allegations pertaining to the supposed mishandling of classified information. Since departing the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a outspoken Trump critic, going so far as to call him "remarkably ignorant" and unsuitable for office in his book.

Specialists contend that while there may be political motivations to target Bolton, the methods used to secure an indictment and the proof gathered against him suggest a potentially more substantial case than the Justice Department brought against Comey.

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

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

The charge states that at one point a unauthorized user accessed to Bolton's system where documents were stored and transmitted an seeming warning to cause "the biggest controversy since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were leaked".

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

Political Motivation or a Substantial Case?

The timing of his indictment - coming on the tails of allegations against Comey - has renewed questions about political pressure on the justice system.

Trump once suggested Bolton should be in prison, and called him a "sleazebag". Bolton, for his part, authored a book about his experience in the Trump administration that was highly critical of the leader.

"There's no question that the timing of this charge, when paired with others, has prompted doubts about the strength of these allegations, and why these charges are being brought at this time," said Jamil Jaffer, creator and executive director of the National Security Institute.

Nevertheless, he continued, "if the DOJ is capable to demonstrate the allegations stated and demonstrate the information is properly designated, his conduct may very well have broken the statute".

Charging such a high-ranking official for mishandling classified documents is "rare" but not unprecedented, said Carrie Cordero, a expert at the Center for a New American Security.

"Cases that involve sensitive materials present difficulties to prosecute, but they may and are brought against equally junior and senior officials, from occasionally," she said.

Parallels to Investigations into Former President and Biden

Trump similarly encountered allegations of improperly storing sensitive materials at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and hindering their recovery, but that case was ultimately dismissed by a federal judge and negated by his re-election as president.

A independent investigator additionally determined that ex-President Joe Biden improperly maintained sensitive materials from his period as vice president, but did not prosecute him.

Bolton's case bears similarities to Biden's sensitive materials matters, said Mr Lesko, who also held a senior security role at the Justice Department.

Strict procedures govern the handling of classified documents. To secure a guilty verdict, the government must prove that Bolton knew the material he was sending was classified, and he had to intentionally transfer it to someone without authorization to obtain it.

"Due to the classified character of the material at issue in this matter, we lack a lot of details about the reasons the government contends things like the diary entries and the other material he shared by email, and the reason there were restricted," explained Mr Jaffer.

A More Traditional Legal Action

The procedure by which the DOJ initiated this legal action will be closely examined, following Trump publicly expressed his wish to see his political opponents charged and some of those charges materialized.

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

"This Bolton prosecution and eventually the charge appeared to have followed the standard process including the regulations and norms within the Department of Justice," he stated.

Unlike Comey's short, two-page charge, Bolton's was a increasingly "traditional" document that "clearly sets forth the particulars concerning the facts and circumstances here," Mr Lesko commented.

"It appears reasonably consistent with a series of precedents... where government officials mishandled and shared sensitive information."