🔗 Share this article

Ex-President Donald Trump has consistently expressed his wish to see critics probed, exerting influence on the DOJ to prosecute ex FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"We can't delay any longer, it's damaging our reputation and credibility," the president wrote recently in a Truth Social message.

"I was impeached twice, and indicted me (five times!)" he said, mentioning the four criminal cases he encountered after leaving the White House in 2021 and James's civil case.

Both have since been charged, in cases that numerous specialists have stated appear to be driven by politics and challenging to win in legal proceedings.

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

"In my opinion, contrasting Bolton's case to James' is like comparing two different things," said Mark Lesko, a ex acting US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

This Specifics of the Legal Situation

Bolton has been formally charged on federal charges pertaining to the supposed mishandling of classified information. After leaving 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 book.

Specialists contend that while there may be political motivations to go after Bolton, the procedures used to secure an indictment and the evidence gathered against him suggest a possibly more substantial case than the DOJ presented against James.

"These actions that's being claimed is simultaneously more serious and seems 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 national security adviser, and after his 2019 White House departure, prosecutors alleged that Bolton put the nation at danger by wrongfully keeping and sending classified information to relatives using unprotected methods, including AOL. Several of the documents were marked highly classified.

The charge alleges that at one point a unauthorized user gained access to Bolton's system where files were kept and sent an seeming warning to cause "the largest scandal since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were leaked".

Bolton entered a not guilty plea during a court appearance on Friday to 18 separate counts of mishandling sensitive materials.

Political Motivation or a Strong Legal Argument?

The schedule of his indictment - coming on the tails of charges against Comey - has renewed concerns about political pressure on the justice system.

Trump previously suggested Bolton belonged in jail, and described him a "disreputable person". Bolton, for his role, authored a book about his time in the Trump administration that was highly critical of the president.

"Undoubtedly that the schedule of this charge, when combined with additional cases, has raised doubts about the strength of these charges, and why these counts are being filed now," stated Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of the National Security Institute.

However, he continued, "should the DOJ is capable to demonstrate the allegations alleged and show the information is correctly designated, his conduct may certainly have violated the law".

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

"Cases that involve sensitive materials pose difficulties to try, but they can and are filed against equally low-level and senior officials, from occasionally," she said.

Similarities to Examinations into Trump and Biden

Trump likewise faced charges of wrongfully keeping sensitive materials at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and obstructing their recovery, but that matter was eventually dismissed by a court official and negated by his return as leader.

A independent investigator also determined that former President Joe Biden improperly maintained sensitive materials from his period as vice president, but failed to criminally charge him.

Bolton's case shares characteristics to Biden's sensitive materials matters, noted Mr Lesko, who also held a top security role at the DOJ.

Rigorous protocols govern the handling of classified documents. To win a guilty verdict, the government must prove that Bolton was aware the material he was transmitting was restricted, and he had to intentionally transfer it to someone without authorization to receive it.

"Due to the sensitive character of the information at issue in this case, we lack a lot of particulars about why the prosecution contends things like the personal notes and the additional information he communicated by electronic message, and the reason there were classified," said Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Traditional Legal Action

The process by which the DOJ initiated this legal action will be under scrutiny, after Trump publicly expressed his wish to see his critics prosecuted and some of those charges came to fruition.

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

"This Bolton prosecution and eventually the charge seemed to have observed the standard process including the rules and norms within the DOJ," he stated.

Unlike Comey's brief, two-page charge, Bolton's was a more "conventional" document that "explicitly outlines the particulars concerning the circumstances and circumstances here," Mr Lesko said.

"It seems fairly aligned with a long line of precedents... where government officials mishandled and shared classified material."