🔗 Share this article

Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly shown his wish to see critics probed, exerting pressure on the Justice Department to charge ex FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"We cannot postpone any longer, it's damaging our standing and credibility," the president wrote last month in a Truth Social post.

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

Both have subsequently been indicted, in cases that many experts have stated appear to be politically motivated and difficult to succeed in legal proceedings.

But the latest charges against a presidential opponent, ex security advisor John Bolton, stand apart, legal specialists and former prosecutors say.

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

This Specifics of the Case

Bolton has been criminally indicted on federal charges related to the alleged improper handling of sensitive materials. Since departing the White House in 2019, he has become a outspoken Trump critic, going so far as to call him "remarkably ignorant" and unfit for office in his memoir.

Specialists contend that while there may be political motivations to go after Bolton, the procedures used to obtain an indictment and the evidence compiled against him indicate a possibly stronger legal argument than the Justice Department brought against James.

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

During his time as Trump's national security adviser, and after his 2019 White House exit, authorities claimed that Bolton placed the country at risk by improperly retaining and transmitting sensitive documents to family members using insecure means, including AOL. Several of the materials were labeled highly classified.

The charge alleges that at a certain time a unauthorized user accessed to Bolton's system where documents were stored and sent an seeming warning to cause "the biggest scandal since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were leaked".

Bolton pleaded not guilty during a hearing on Friday to 18 distinct counts of mishandling classified information.

Political Motivation or a Strong Legal Argument?

The timing of his indictment - arriving on the heels of allegations against James - has renewed concerns about political pressure on the justice system.

Trump once implied Bolton belonged in prison, and called him a "disreputable person". Bolton, for his role, wrote a book about his time in the Trump government that was sharply negative of the president.

"Undoubtedly that the schedule of this indictment, when paired with others, has prompted questions about the validity of these charges, and the reason these counts are being brought at this time," said Jamil Jaffer, creator and executive director of the National Security Institute.

Nevertheless, he added, "if the DOJ is able to demonstrate the allegations stated and demonstrate the material is correctly designated, his conduct may certainly have violated the statute".

Prosecuting such a senior official for mishandling sensitive materials is "uncommon" but not without precedent, noted Carrie Cordero, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

"Situations that concern classified information present difficulties to try, but they may and are brought against both junior and high-level officials, from occasionally," she said.

Similarities to Examinations into Trump and Biden

Trump likewise faced allegations of improperly keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and hindering their recovery, but that case was ultimately thrown out by a federal judge and voided by his return as president.

A independent investigator also found that former President Joe Biden improperly stored sensitive materials from his time as vice president, but failed to prosecute him.

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

Rigorous procedures govern the management of sensitive materials. To secure a conviction, the prosecution must demonstrate that Bolton knew the material he was transmitting was classified, and he had to intentionally transmit it to someone without authorization to receive it.

"Due to the sensitive character of the information at question in this matter, we don't have a great deal of particulars about why the prosecution believes things like the personal notes and the other material he communicated by electronic message, and why there were classified," explained Mr Jaffer.

A More Traditional Prosecution

The process by which the Justice Department brought this legal action will be under scrutiny, following Trump publicly posted his wish to see his political opponents prosecuted and some of those charges came to fruition.

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

"This Bolton prosecution and ultimately the indictment appeared to have followed the standard process including the regulations and norms within the Department of Justice," he said.

Unlike Comey's short, two-page indictment, Bolton's was a more "conventional" filing that "explicitly outlines the details concerning the circumstances and situation in this instance," Mr Lesko said.

"It appears reasonably consistent with a long line of cases... where government officials mishandled and transmitted sensitive information."