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Former President Donald Trump has consistently expressed his desire to see opponents investigated, applying pressure on the DOJ to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"We cannot postpone further, it's damaging our standing and trustworthiness," the president wrote recently in a social media post.

"I was impeached twice, and indicted me (5 times!)" he declared, referencing the four criminal cases he encountered after leaving the White House in 2021 and James's lawsuit.

Both have since been indicted, in situations that many experts have stated appear to be politically motivated and difficult to win in court.

But the most recent charges against a presidential opponent, ex national security adviser John Bolton, stand apart, legal specialists and ex-prosecutors assert.

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

This Details of the Legal Situation

Bolton has been formally charged on national allegations related to the supposed mishandling of classified information. After leaving the White House in 2019, he has become a outspoken presidential opponent, even to describe him "remarkably ignorant" and unsuitable for the presidency in his memoir.

Experts contend that while there may be political motivations to target Bolton, the procedures used to secure an charge and the evidence compiled against him suggest a possibly stronger legal argument than the Justice Department presented against Comey.

"These actions that's being claimed is simultaneously more severe and appears to have occurred over a considerable period of time," said Carissa Byrne Hessick, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law.

Throughout his tenure as Trump's national security adviser, and following his 2019 White House departure, prosecutors claimed that Bolton placed the nation at risk by wrongfully retaining and transmitting classified information to relatives using insecure means, including AOL. Some of the materials were marked top secret.

The charge states that at a certain time a hacker accessed to Bolton's system where files were stored and sent an seeming warning to cause "the largest controversy since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were released".

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

Retribution or a Substantial Legal Argument?

The schedule of his charge - arriving on the tails of allegations against Comey - has renewed concerns about external influence on the legal system.

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

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

Nevertheless, he continued, "should the Justice Department is able to prove the allegations alleged and show the material is properly designated, his behavior may very well have broken the statute".

Charging such a senior figure for improperly handling sensitive materials is "uncommon" but not without precedent, noted Carrie Cordero, a expert at the Center for a New American Security.

"Cases that concern sensitive materials present challenges to try, but they can and are brought against both low-level and high-level officials, from occasionally," she explained.

Similarities to Investigations into Trump and Biden

Trump similarly faced charges of improperly keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and hindering their return, but that case was eventually dismissed by a court official and negated by his return as leader.

A special counsel additionally determined that former President Joe Biden wrongfully stored classified documents from his period as second-in-command, but did not criminally charge him.

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

Strict procedures govern the management of sensitive materials. To win a conviction, the government must demonstrate that Bolton knew the material he was sending was classified, and he had to knowingly transfer it to someone not entitled to receive it.

"Because of the sensitive character of the material at issue in this case, we lack a lot of particulars about why the government contends things like the personal notes and the other information he communicated by email, and the reason there were restricted," said Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Traditional Legal Action

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

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

"The Bolton prosecution and ultimately the charge seemed to have observed the regular process including the rules and standards within the Department of Justice," he said.

Unlike Comey's short, two-page charge, Bolton's was a more "conventional" document that "clearly outlines the details involving the circumstances and circumstances in this instance," Mr Lesko said.

"It appears fairly consistent with a series of cases... where government officials mishandled and shared sensitive information."