Ex-President Donald Trump has consistently shown his desire to see critics investigated, applying influence on the Justice Department to prosecute ex FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
"We can't delay further, it's killing our standing and credibility," the leader wrote last month in a social media message.
"They impeached twice, and charged me (five times!)" he declared, mentioning the multiple legal proceedings he faced after leaving the White House in 2021 and James's civil case.
Each have since been indicted, in situations that many experts have said appear to be politically motivated and difficult to succeed in court.
But the latest charges against a presidential opponent, former national security adviser John Bolton, stand apart, legal specialists and ex-prosecutors assert.
"I would say, contrasting Bolton's case to James' is like equating two different things," stated Mark Lesko, a former acting US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
The Specifics of the Case
Bolton has been criminally indicted on federal charges related to the supposed mishandling of classified information. After departing the White House in 2019, he has become a outspoken presidential opponent, going so far as to call him "stunningly uninformed" and unfit for office in his book.
Experts say that while there may be political reasons to target Bolton, the methods used to obtain an charge and the proof gathered against him indicate a possibly more substantial legal argument than the DOJ brought against Comey.
"This misconduct that's being alleged is simultaneously more severe 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 after his 2019 White House departure, authorities claimed that Bolton placed the nation at risk by wrongfully keeping and sending classified information to family members using insecure means, including AOL. Several of the materials were labeled top secret.
The charge alleges that at a certain time a hacker accessed to Bolton's account where documents were stored and transmitted an seeming threat to cause "the largest scandal since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were leaked".
Bolton pleaded not guilty during a hearing on recently to eighteen distinct counts of improperly handling classified information.
Retribution or a Substantial Case?
The timing of his indictment - arriving on the heels of charges against James - has revived concerns about external influence on the justice system.
Trump once implied Bolton belonged in jail, and described him a "sleazebag". Bolton, for his part, authored a publication about his time in the Trump administration that was sharply negative of the leader.
"There's no question that the schedule of this indictment, when paired with others, has raised doubts about the validity of these charges, and the reason these counts are being filed at this time," said Jamil Jaffer, creator and executive director of the National Security Institute.
Nevertheless, he added, "should the Justice Department is capable to prove the allegations alleged and show the material is correctly designated, his behavior may very well have violated the law".
Charging such a high-ranking official for improperly handling classified documents is "uncommon" but not without precedent, noted Carrie Cordero, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.
"Situations that concern sensitive materials present challenges to prosecute, but they may and are filed against equally junior and high-level officials, from time to time," she explained.
Similarities to Examinations into Former President and Biden
Trump similarly encountered allegations of improperly storing sensitive materials at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and obstructing their return, but that case was eventually thrown out by a federal judge and voided by his return as president.
A special counsel also determined that ex-President Joe Biden improperly stored sensitive materials from his period as vice president, but failed to criminally charge him.
Bolton's situation bears similarities to Biden's sensitive materials matters, said Mr Lesko, who previously held a senior national security role at the Justice Department.
Rigorous procedures regulate the management of classified documents. To secure a conviction, the prosecution must demonstrate that Bolton was aware the material he was sending was restricted, and he had to intentionally transfer it to someone without authorization to receive it.
"Due to the classified nature of the information at question in this matter, we lack a great deal of details about the reasons the government believes things like the diary entries and the additional material he communicated by email, and why there were classified," explained Mr Jaffer.
A More Conventional Legal Action
The process by which the DOJ brought this case will be under scrutiny, following Trump publicly posted his desire to see his critics prosecuted and several of those charges came to fruition.
But Mr Lesko indicated in Bolton's situation, authorities appear to have adhered to standard procedure.
"The Bolton case and eventually the charge seemed to have followed the regular procedure including the regulations and standards within the DOJ," he said.
Unlike Comey's brief, concise indictment, Bolton's was a increasingly "conventional" document that "clearly outlines the particulars concerning the facts and situation here," Mr Lesko commented.
"It appears fairly consistent with a long line of cases... where government officials improperly handled and shared classified material."
