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Ex-President Donald Trump has consistently shown his desire to see critics investigated, applying pressure on the Justice Department to prosecute ex FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"We cannot postpone any longer, it's damaging our reputation and credibility," the president stated last month in a Truth Social post.

"I was impeached me, and charged me (five times!)" he declared, referencing the four criminal cases he encountered after departing the White House in 2021 and James's civil case.

Both have since been indicted, in situations that many specialists have stated seem to be driven by politics and difficult to succeed in legal proceedings.

But the most recent allegations against a presidential opponent, former security advisor John Bolton, stand apart, legal specialists and ex-prosecutors say.

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

The Specifics of the Legal Situation

Bolton has been criminally indicted on federal charges related to the supposed improper handling of classified information. Since leaving the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a outspoken presidential opponent, going so far as to call him "remarkably ignorant" and unsuitable for the presidency in his book.

Experts say that while there may be political reasons to go after Bolton, the methods used to obtain an indictment and the evidence compiled against him indicate a possibly more substantial legal argument than the Justice Department presented against Comey.

"This misconduct that's being alleged is simultaneously more severe and appears to have taken place over a significant period of time," said Carissa Byrne Hessick, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law.

Throughout his tenure as Trump's national security adviser, and after his 2019 White House exit, prosecutors claimed that Bolton put the country at danger by wrongfully keeping and transmitting classified information to relatives using insecure means, including AOL. Some of the materials were marked top secret.

The indictment alleges that at a certain time a unauthorized user gained access to Bolton's system where documents were kept and transmitted an apparent threat to cause "the largest controversy since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were leaked".

Bolton entered a not guilty plea during a court appearance on recently to 18 separate counts of improperly handling classified information.

Retribution or a Strong Case?

The timing of his charge - arriving on the tails of allegations against Comey - has revived concerns about political pressure on the legal system.

Trump previously implied Bolton belonged in jail, 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 president.

"Undoubtedly that the timing of this indictment, when paired with additional cases, has raised doubts about the strength of these allegations, and the reason these counts are being brought now," stated Jamil Jaffer, creator and director of the National Security Institute.

However, he continued, "if the DOJ is capable to demonstrate the allegations stated and demonstrate the information is correctly classified, his conduct may certainly have violated the law".

Prosecuting such a senior figure for mishandling sensitive materials is "uncommon" but not unprecedented, noted Carrie Cordero, a expert at the Center for a New American Security.

"Cases that concern sensitive materials present challenges to try, but they may and are filed against equally low-level and high-level officials, from occasionally," she explained.

Similarities to Examinations into Trump and Biden

Trump similarly encountered allegations of improperly storing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and obstructing their recovery, but that case was eventually thrown out by a federal judge and voided by his return as president.

A special counsel additionally found that former President Joe Biden improperly stored sensitive materials from his time as second-in-command, but failed to prosecute him.

Bolton's situation shares characteristics to Biden's classified documents matters, said Mr Lesko, who also held a senior national security role at the Justice Department.

Strict protocols regulate the management of classified documents. To win a guilty verdict, the government must demonstrate that Bolton was aware the material he was transmitting was restricted, and he had to intentionally transmit it to someone without authorization to receive it.

"Due to the sensitive character of the material at question in this case, we lack a great deal of particulars about why the government contends elements like the personal notes and the other material he communicated by electronic message, and why there were restricted," said Mr Jaffer.

A More Conventional Legal Action

The process by which the DOJ initiated this case will be closely examined, following Trump publicly posted his wish to see his political opponents prosecuted and some of those indictments came to fruition.

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

"This Bolton prosecution and eventually the charge appeared to have observed the standard procedure including the rules and standards within the Department of Justice," he stated.

In contrast to Comey's brief, concise indictment, Bolton's was a increasingly "traditional" document that "explicitly outlines the particulars involving the circumstances and circumstances in this instance," Mr Lesko said.

"It appears fairly aligned with a series of precedents... where public servants mishandled and shared classified material."