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Former President Donald Trump has consistently expressed his desire to see critics probed, applying influence on the DOJ to charge former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"We can't delay further, it's killing our standing and trustworthiness," the leader stated recently in a social media post.

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

Each have since been indicted, in situations that many experts have said seem to be politically motivated and difficult to win in legal proceedings.

But the latest allegations against a Trump critic, ex security advisor John Bolton, differ significantly, legal experts and former prosecutors say.

"I would say, contrasting Bolton's charges to Comey's is like comparing two different things," stated Mark Lesko, a former acting US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

This Details of the Legal Situation

Bolton has been criminally indicted on national allegations related to the supposed improper handling of sensitive materials. After departing the White House in 2019, he has become a vocal Trump critic, even to call him "remarkably ignorant" and unsuitable for the presidency in his book.

Experts say that while there may be political reasons to target Bolton, the methods used to secure an indictment and the proof gathered against him suggest a possibly more substantial case than the DOJ brought against James.

"These actions that's being claimed is simultaneously more serious and appears to have taken place over a significant period of time," said Carissa Byrne Hessick, a academic at the University of North Carolina School of Law.

During his time as Trump's security advisor, and after his 2019 White House exit, prosecutors claimed that Bolton put the country at risk by improperly retaining and sending classified information to relatives using insecure means, including AOL. Several of the materials were labeled highly classified.

The indictment states that at one point a hacker accessed to Bolton's account where documents were stored and sent an apparent warning to cause "the biggest controversy since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were released".

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

Retribution or a Strong Legal Argument?

The timing of his charge - arriving on the heels of allegations against Comey - has renewed questions about political pressure on the legal system.

Trump previously suggested Bolton should be in prison, and called him a "disreputable person". Bolton, for his part, authored a book about his time in the Trump government that was sharply negative of the president.

"There's no question that the timing of this charge, when paired with others, has raised questions about the validity of these charges, and why these charges are being filed now," stated Jamil Jaffer, founder and director of the National Security Institute.

However, he added, "should the DOJ is able to demonstrate the facts alleged and show the material is correctly designated, his conduct may certainly have violated the law".

Charging such a senior official for mishandling classified documents is "uncommon" but not without precedent, said Carrie Cordero, a expert at the Center for a New American Security.

"Cases that involve sensitive materials pose challenges to prosecute, but they may and are filed against both low-level and high-level officials, from occasionally," she explained.

Similarities to Examinations into Trump and President

Trump similarly encountered charges of wrongfully storing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and obstructing their return, but that case was ultimately dismissed by a court official and negated by his return as president.

A independent investigator also found that former President Joe Biden wrongfully maintained sensitive materials from his period as second-in-command, but failed to prosecute him.

Bolton's situation bears similarities to Biden's classified documents matters, said Mr Lesko, who previously held a senior security position at the DOJ.

Rigorous protocols govern the handling of classified documents. To win a conviction, the prosecution must demonstrate that Bolton knew the information he was transmitting was classified, and he had to knowingly transfer it to someone without authorization to obtain it.

"Due to the classified nature of the material at question in this case, we lack a lot of details about why the prosecution believes things like the diary entries and the additional material he shared by email, and the reason there were classified," said Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Traditional Legal Action

The process by which the Justice Department initiated this case will be closely examined, following Trump publicly posted his desire to see his critics charged and some of those indictments materialized.

But Mr Lesko said in Bolton's situation, authorities seem to have adhered to standard procedure.

"This Bolton case and ultimately the charge seemed to have observed the regular procedure including the rules and standards within the DOJ," he stated.

Unlike Comey's brief, two-page charge, Bolton's was a increasingly "conventional" filing that "clearly outlines the details concerning the circumstances and situation here," Mr Lesko said.

"It appears reasonably aligned with a series of precedents... where government officials improperly handled and transmitted sensitive information."