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Ex-President Donald Trump has consistently expressed his wish to see critics investigated, exerting pressure 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 damaging our standing and credibility," the president wrote recently in a social media post.

"I was impeached me, and indicted me (5 times!)" he declared, mentioning the multiple legal proceedings 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 stated seem to be politically motivated and difficult to win in legal proceedings.

But the most recent allegations against a Trump critic, ex national security adviser John Bolton, differ significantly, legal experts and former prosecutors say.

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

This Details of Bolton's Legal Situation

Bolton has been criminally indicted on federal charges related to the alleged improper handling of sensitive materials. After leaving the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a vocal presidential opponent, going so far as to call him "stunningly uninformed" and unsuitable for the presidency in his book.

Experts contend that while there may be political reasons to target Bolton, the procedures used to secure an charge and the proof compiled against him indicate a possibly stronger case than the Justice Department brought against James.

"These actions that's being claimed is both more serious and seems to have taken place over a considerable duration," said Carissa Byrne Hessick, a academic at the University of North Carolina School of Law.

Throughout his time as Trump's national security adviser, and after his 2019 White House departure, prosecutors claimed that Bolton placed the nation at danger by wrongfully retaining and transmitting classified information to relatives using unprotected methods, including AOL. Some of the documents were labeled highly classified.

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

Bolton pleaded not guilty during a court appearance on recently to eighteen distinct counts of improperly handling sensitive materials.

Political Motivation or a Strong Case?

The timing of his charge - arriving on the heels of allegations against James - has revived concerns about external influence on the legal system.

Trump previously suggested Bolton should be in prison, and called him a "disreputable person". Bolton, for his role, wrote a publication about his time in the Trump government that was highly critical of the president.

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

Nevertheless, he added, "should the DOJ is capable to demonstrate the facts stated and show the information is correctly classified, his behavior may certainly have broken the law".

Prosecuting such a senior official for mishandling sensitive materials is "uncommon" but not without precedent, noted Carrie Cordero, a expert at the Center for a New American Security.

"Situations that concern classified information pose challenges to try, but they may and are filed against both junior and high-level officials, from time to time," she explained.

Similarities to Investigations into Trump and Biden

Trump likewise faced charges of improperly storing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and hindering their recovery, but that matter was ultimately thrown out by a court official and negated by his return as president.

A special counsel additionally determined that former President Joe Biden wrongfully stored sensitive materials from his period as vice president, but failed to criminally charge him.

Bolton's situation shares characteristics to Trump's sensitive materials matters, noted Mr Lesko, who also held a top security role at the DOJ.

Strict protocols govern the handling of classified documents. To secure a guilty verdict, the government must prove that Bolton knew the information he was sending was restricted, and he had to intentionally transmit it to someone not entitled to receive it.

"Due to the sensitive nature of the material at issue in this case, we don't have a lot of details about the reasons the prosecution believes elements like the personal notes and the other information he shared by electronic message, and the reason there were classified," said Mr Jaffer.

A More Conventional Prosecution

The procedure by which the DOJ brought this legal action will be closely examined, following Trump publicly posted his desire to see his political opponents charged and several of those charges came to fruition.

But Mr Lesko indicated in Bolton's case, authorities appear to have adhered to protocol.

"The Bolton prosecution and eventually the charge appeared to have followed the regular procedure including the rules and norms within the Department of Justice," he said.

Unlike Comey's short, concise indictment, Bolton's was a more "traditional" filing that "explicitly sets forth the details concerning the circumstances and situation in this instance," Mr Lesko commented.

"It seems fairly aligned with a series of precedents... where public servants improperly handled and shared classified material."