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Ex-President Donald Trump has consistently shown his wish to see opponents probed, applying 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 trustworthiness," the president wrote recently in a Truth Social message.

"They 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 lawsuit.

Both have subsequently been indicted, in situations that many experts have said seem to be driven by politics and challenging to succeed in legal proceedings.

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

"In my opinion, contrasting Bolton's charges to Comey's is like comparing two different things," stated Mark Lesko, a former federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York.

The Details of Bolton's Case

Bolton has been formally charged on national allegations related to the supposed mishandling of classified information. After departing the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a vocal Trump critic, even to describe him "remarkably ignorant" and unsuitable for office in his book.

Specialists say that while there may be political motivations to go after Bolton, the methods used to obtain an indictment and the evidence compiled against him indicate a potentially stronger legal argument than the DOJ brought against Comey.

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

During his tenure as Trump's national security adviser, and after his 2019 White House exit, authorities alleged that Bolton put the nation at risk by wrongfully keeping and sending classified information to relatives using insecure means, including AOL. Several of the documents were marked highly classified.

The indictment states that at a certain time a hacker gained access to Bolton's system where documents were stored and sent an apparent threat to cause "the largest scandal since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were leaked".

Bolton entered a not guilty plea during a court appearance on recently to 18 separate charges of improperly handling sensitive materials.

Retribution or a Strong Legal Argument?

The schedule of his indictment - arriving on the heels of allegations against Comey - has revived questions about external influence on the legal system.

Trump previously implied Bolton belonged in prison, and described him a "sleazebag". Bolton, for his part, 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 paired with additional cases, has raised questions about the strength of these allegations, and the reason these counts are being filed now," stated Jamil Jaffer, creator and director of the National Security Institute.

Nevertheless, he continued, "if the DOJ is able to demonstrate the facts stated and demonstrate the material is correctly classified, his conduct may very well have broken the law".

Prosecuting such a high-ranking official for improperly handling classified documents is "rare" but not without precedent, said Carrie Cordero, a expert at the Center for a New American Security.

"Cases that concern sensitive materials present challenges to try, but they may and are filed against equally low-level and senior personnel, from time to time," she explained.

Similarities to Examinations into Former President and President

Trump similarly encountered charges of improperly keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and hindering their return, but that case was eventually thrown out by a court official and negated by his re-election as leader.

A special counsel also found that ex-President Joe Biden improperly stored sensitive materials from his time as second-in-command, but failed to criminally charge him.

Bolton's case shares characteristics to Biden's classified documents matters, noted Mr Lesko, who also held a top national security position at the Justice Department.

Rigorous protocols govern the management of classified documents. To secure a guilty verdict, the government must demonstrate that Bolton knew the material he was sending was classified, and he had to intentionally transmit it to someone not entitled to receive it.

"Because of the classified nature of the information at issue in this matter, we lack a great deal of particulars about the reasons the government believes elements like the personal notes and the other information he communicated by email, and why there were classified," said Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Conventional Legal Action

The process by which the Justice Department brought this legal action will be closely examined, following Trump openly posted his wish to see his political opponents prosecuted and some of those indictments came to fruition.

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

"This Bolton case and eventually the indictment seemed to have followed the standard procedure including the rules and norms within the DOJ," he said.

Unlike Comey's brief, two-page indictment, Bolton's was a more "traditional" filing that "explicitly outlines the particulars concerning the facts and situation in this instance," Mr Lesko said.

"It seems reasonably aligned with a long line of precedents... where government officials improperly handled and transmitted sensitive information."