🔗 Share this article

Ex-President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his wish to see opponents investigated, exerting 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 killing our standing and credibility," the leader wrote recently in a Truth Social post.

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

Both have since been charged, in cases that numerous specialists have said seem 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 former prosecutors assert.

"In my opinion, contrasting Bolton's case to James' is like equating apples to oranges," said Mark Lesko, a former acting US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

This Details of Bolton's Legal Situation

Bolton has been criminally indicted on federal charges related to the alleged mishandling of classified information. After leaving the White House in 2019, he has become a outspoken Trump critic, even to describe him "remarkably ignorant" and unsuitable for the presidency in his book.

Specialists say that while there may be political reasons to target Bolton, the methods used to secure an charge and the proof gathered against him suggest a potentially stronger case than the Justice Department presented against Comey.

"This misconduct that's being alleged is simultaneously more severe and appears to have taken place over a considerable duration," commented 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 departure, prosecutors claimed that Bolton put the nation at risk by wrongfully keeping and transmitting sensitive documents to relatives using unprotected methods, including AOL. Some of the materials were labeled highly classified.

The charge states that at one point 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 leaked".

Bolton pleaded not guilty during a court appearance on Friday to 18 distinct counts of improperly handling sensitive materials.

Political Motivation or a Strong Case?

The schedule of his charge - coming on the tails of allegations against James - has revived questions about political pressure on the justice system.

Trump previously implied Bolton belonged in jail, and called him a "sleazebag". Bolton, for his role, wrote a publication about his experience in the Trump government that was sharply negative of the president.

"There's no question that the schedule of this indictment, when combined with additional cases, has raised questions about the validity of these charges, and why these charges are being filed at this time," said Jamil Jaffer, creator and executive director of the National Security Institute.

However, he added, "if the Justice Department is capable to demonstrate the facts alleged and show the information is correctly designated, his behavior may very well have violated the statute".

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

"Situations that involve classified information pose challenges to try, but they may and are brought against equally low-level and senior personnel, from occasionally," she said.

Similarities to Investigations into Former President and Biden

Trump similarly faced charges of improperly storing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and obstructing their return, but that matter was ultimately dismissed by a federal judge and negated by his re-election as leader.

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

Bolton's situation bears similarities to Trump's sensitive materials matters, said Mr Lesko, who also held a top national security position at the Justice Department.

Rigorous procedures regulate the management of sensitive materials. To secure a guilty verdict, the government must demonstrate that Bolton was aware the information he was sending was classified, and he had to intentionally transfer it to someone not entitled to obtain it.

"Due to the sensitive character of the material at question in this case, we don't have a great deal of particulars about the reasons the prosecution contends elements like the diary entries and the additional information he shared by email, and why there were restricted," explained Mr Jaffer.

A More Conventional Legal Action

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

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

"The Bolton prosecution and eventually the charge appeared to have observed the regular procedure including the rules and norms within the Department of Justice," he said.

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

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