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Ex-President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to see opponents probed, applying influence on the Justice Department to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"We can't delay any longer, it's killing our standing and trustworthiness," the leader wrote recently in a social media message.

"They impeached twice, and charged me (five times!)" he declared, mentioning the four criminal cases he encountered after leaving the White House in 2021 and James's civil case.

Each have since been indicted, in cases that many experts have said seem to be politically motivated and challenging to succeed in legal proceedings.

But the latest allegations against a presidential opponent, former national security adviser John Bolton, stand apart, legal specialists and former prosecutors say.

"I would say, comparing Bolton's case to Comey's is like equating two different things," stated Mark Lesko, a ex federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York.

The Details of the Case

Bolton has been formally charged on federal charges pertaining to the supposed improper handling of sensitive materials. After departing the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a vocal presidential opponent, even to describe him "stunningly uninformed" and unfit for the presidency in his book.

Experts contend that while there may be political motivations to go after Bolton, the methods used to secure an indictment and the evidence gathered against him indicate a potentially more substantial case than the DOJ presented against James.

"These actions that's being claimed is simultaneously more severe and appears to have occurred over a significant period of time," commented Carissa Byrne Hessick, a academic 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 claimed that Bolton put the nation at risk by wrongfully retaining and sending sensitive documents to relatives using unprotected methods, including AOL. Some of the documents were marked top secret.

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

Bolton pleaded not guilty during a hearing on recently to 18 separate charges of improperly handling sensitive materials.

Political Motivation or a Strong Case?

The timing of his charge - coming on the heels of charges against James - has revived concerns about external influence on the justice system.

Trump previously suggested Bolton belonged in jail, and described him a "sleazebag". Bolton, for his role, authored a book about his experience in the Trump government that was highly critical of the leader.

"Undoubtedly that the timing of this charge, when combined with additional cases, has prompted doubts about the strength of these charges, and why these counts are being brought at this time," stated Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of the National Security Institute.

Nevertheless, he continued, "should the DOJ is able to prove the facts alleged and show the material is correctly classified, his conduct may certainly have violated the law".

Charging such a high-ranking figure 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 concern classified information present challenges to prosecute, but they can and are filed against both junior and high-level personnel, from occasionally," she explained.

Similarities to Investigations into Trump and Biden

Trump similarly encountered allegations of wrongfully keeping sensitive materials 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 re-election as leader.

A special counsel also determined that former President Joe Biden improperly maintained sensitive materials from his period as vice president, but failed to prosecute him.

Bolton's case bears similarities to Trump's sensitive materials matters, said Mr Lesko, who previously held a top security position at the Justice Department.

Rigorous procedures govern the management of sensitive materials. To win a conviction, the government must demonstrate that Bolton was aware the information he was transmitting was classified, and he had to knowingly transfer it to someone without authorization to receive it.

"Because of the sensitive character of the material at question in this case, we lack a lot of particulars about the reasons the government contends elements like the diary entries and the other material he communicated by email, and the reason there were restricted," explained Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Traditional Legal Action

The process by which the Justice Department initiated this legal action will be closely examined, following Trump publicly posted his wish to see his critics charged and some of those indictments came to fruition.

But Mr Lesko said in Bolton's case, authorities seem to have adhered to protocol.

"This Bolton prosecution and eventually the indictment appeared to have followed 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 "conventional" document that "explicitly sets forth the details concerning the facts and circumstances here," Mr Lesko commented.

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