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Ex-President Donald Trump has repeatedly shown 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 damaging our reputation and trustworthiness," the president wrote recently in a social media post.

"They impeached me, and indicted me (5 times!)" he said, referencing the multiple legal proceedings he faced after leaving the White House in 2021 and James's lawsuit.

Each have subsequently been indicted, in situations that numerous specialists have stated appear to be politically motivated and challenging to win in legal proceedings.

But the latest charges against a Trump critic, ex security advisor John Bolton, stand apart, legal experts and former prosecutors assert.

"In my opinion, contrasting Bolton's charges to Comey's is like equating two different things," stated Mark Lesko, a ex acting US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

This Details of the Legal Situation

Bolton has been formally charged on national allegations pertaining to the alleged improper handling of classified information. After departing the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a vocal presidential opponent, going so far as to describe him "stunningly uninformed" and unfit for the presidency in his book.

Specialists contend that while there may be political reasons to target Bolton, the procedures used to secure an indictment and the evidence compiled against him indicate a potentially stronger legal argument than the DOJ presented against Comey.

"These actions that's being claimed is simultaneously more serious and seems to have occurred over a significant period of time," said Carissa Byrne Hessick, a academic 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, authorities claimed that Bolton placed the nation at danger by wrongfully keeping and transmitting classified information to family members using unprotected methods, including AOL. Several of the materials were labeled highly classified.

The indictment alleges that at one point a hacker accessed to Bolton's system where documents were stored and transmitted an apparent threat to cause "the largest controversy since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were leaked".

Bolton pleaded not guilty during a hearing on recently to 18 separate charges of mishandling classified information.

Retribution or a Substantial Legal Argument?

The timing of his indictment - arriving on the heels of charges against Comey - has revived questions 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 book about his experience in the Trump administration that was highly critical of the president.

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

However, he continued, "should the Justice Department is able to demonstrate the allegations stated and show the information is properly designated, his conduct may very well have violated the law".

Charging such a high-ranking 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 pose challenges to try, but they can and are brought against both low-level and senior personnel, from occasionally," she said.

Similarities to Examinations into Former President and President

Trump similarly encountered allegations of wrongfully keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and obstructing their return, but that case was eventually thrown out by a federal judge and voided by his re-election as leader.

A independent investigator also determined that ex-President Joe Biden wrongfully stored classified documents from his time as vice president, but did not prosecute him.

Bolton's case bears similarities to Biden's sensitive materials issues, said Mr Lesko, who also held a senior security role at the Justice Department.

Strict protocols govern the management of sensitive materials. To secure a conviction, the government must demonstrate that Bolton was aware the information he was sending was restricted, and he had to knowingly transfer it to someone not entitled to obtain it.

"Due to the sensitive character of the material at issue in this matter, we don't have a great deal of particulars about why the prosecution contends things like the diary entries and the additional information he communicated by email, and the reason there were classified," said Mr Jaffer.

A More Conventional Prosecution

The procedure by which the Justice Department initiated this legal action will be closely examined, following Trump publicly expressed his wish to see his political opponents charged and several of those charges came to fruition.

But Mr Lesko indicated in Bolton's situation, prosecutors seem to have followed standard procedure.

"The Bolton case and eventually the charge appeared to have followed the regular procedure including the regulations and norms within the Department of Justice," he stated.

Unlike Comey's brief, concise indictment, Bolton's was a more "conventional" document that "clearly outlines the details involving the facts and circumstances here," Mr Lesko said.

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