How the Bolton Case Differs Substantially from Other Former President Opponents

Ex-President Donald Trump has repeatedly shown his desire to see opponents probed, applying pressure on the DOJ to charge ex FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

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

"They impeached me, and indicted me (five times!)" he declared, referencing the four criminal cases he faced after departing the White House in 2021 and James's lawsuit.

Both have since been charged, in situations that many specialists have stated appear to be driven by politics and difficult to win in court.

But the most recent charges against a Trump critic, ex security advisor John Bolton, stand apart, legal experts and ex-prosecutors say.

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

The Details of Bolton's Case

Bolton has been criminally indicted on federal charges related to the supposed improper handling of sensitive materials. After departing the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a outspoken Trump critic, going so far as to call him "stunningly uninformed" and unfit for office in his book.

Specialists say that while there may be political motivations to go after Bolton, the methods used to obtain an charge and the proof gathered against him indicate a possibly more substantial case than the DOJ brought against Comey.

"These actions that's being claimed is simultaneously more serious and appears to have occurred 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 security advisor, and following his 2019 White House departure, prosecutors alleged that Bolton put the nation at danger by improperly retaining and transmitting sensitive documents to relatives using unprotected methods, including AOL. Some of the materials were labeled top secret.

The indictment alleges that at a certain time a hacker accessed to Bolton's system where files were stored and sent an seeming threat to cause "the biggest scandal since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were released".

Bolton pleaded not guilty during a hearing on Friday to eighteen separate counts of mishandling classified information.

Political Motivation or a Substantial Legal Argument?

The schedule of his indictment - coming on the tails of allegations against James - has revived concerns about political pressure on the justice system.

Trump previously suggested Bolton should be in jail, and described him a "disreputable person". Bolton, for his role, wrote a publication about his time in the Trump government that was sharply negative of the leader.

"There's no question that the schedule of this charge, when combined with additional cases, has raised doubts about the validity of these allegations, and why these counts are being filed now," stated Jamil Jaffer, creator and director of the National Security Institute.

However, he added, "if the Justice Department is capable to demonstrate the allegations stated and demonstrate the material is correctly designated, his conduct may certainly have broken the law".

Charging such a senior official for mishandling sensitive materials is "rare" but not unprecedented, said Carrie Cordero, a expert at the Center for a New American Security.

"Cases that concern sensitive materials present challenges to prosecute, but they can and are brought against equally low-level and senior personnel, from occasionally," she said.

Similarities to Examinations into Former President and Biden

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

A special counsel additionally found that ex-President Joe Biden improperly maintained classified documents from his period as vice president, but did not criminally charge him.

Bolton's situation shares characteristics to Biden's sensitive materials matters, noted Mr Lesko, who previously held a senior security position at the DOJ.

Strict protocols regulate the management of sensitive materials. To secure a guilty verdict, the prosecution must prove that Bolton knew the material he was sending was classified, and he had to intentionally transfer it to someone not entitled to receive it.

"Because of the sensitive nature of the information at issue in this matter, we lack a lot of particulars about the reasons the prosecution contends things like the personal notes and the other information he communicated by electronic message, and why there were restricted," said Mr Jaffer.

A More Conventional Prosecution

The process by which the DOJ initiated this legal action will be closely examined, after Trump publicly expressed his desire to see his political opponents prosecuted and some of those indictments materialized.

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

"This Bolton case and eventually the indictment appeared to have observed the regular process including the rules and norms within the Department of Justice," he said.

Unlike Comey's brief, concise indictment, Bolton's was a more "conventional" document that "explicitly outlines the particulars concerning the circumstances and situation here," Mr Lesko commented.

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