🔗 Share this article

Former President Donald Trump has consistently shown his desire to see opponents probed, exerting influence on the DOJ to charge ex 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 leader wrote last month in a social media post.

"They impeached me, and indicted me (5 times!)" he declared, mentioning the four criminal cases he encountered after departing the White House in 2021 and James's civil case.

Each have subsequently been indicted, in situations that many specialists have stated seem to be politically motivated and difficult to win in court.

But the latest charges against a presidential opponent, former security advisor John Bolton, differ significantly, legal experts and ex-prosecutors say.

"In my opinion, contrasting Bolton's charges to James' is like comparing apples to oranges," said Mark Lesko, a ex federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York.

This Specifics of Bolton's Case

Bolton has been formally charged on federal charges related to the supposed improper handling of classified information. Since leaving the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a vocal presidential opponent, going so far as to call him "stunningly uninformed" and unsuitable for the presidency in his memoir.

Specialists say that while there may be political reasons to target Bolton, the methods used to obtain an charge and the evidence compiled against him suggest a potentially stronger case than the Justice Department brought against Comey.

"This misconduct that's being alleged is both more serious and appears to have occurred over a significant period of time," 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 exit, authorities claimed that Bolton put the country at danger by improperly retaining and transmitting classified information to relatives using insecure means, including AOL. Some of the materials were marked highly classified.

The charge states that at a certain time a unauthorized user accessed to Bolton's account where documents were kept and sent an seeming threat to cause "the largest controversy since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were leaked".

Bolton pleaded not guilty during a hearing on recently to eighteen distinct charges of improperly handling sensitive materials.

Retribution or a Substantial Case?

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

Trump once suggested Bolton should be in jail, and described him a "sleazebag". Bolton, for his role, wrote a publication about his experience in the Trump government that was sharply negative of the leader.

"There's no question that the schedule of this charge, when combined with additional cases, has raised doubts about the validity of these charges, and why these charges are being brought now," said Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of the National Security Institute.

However, he added, "should the Justice Department is capable to demonstrate the allegations stated and show the information is properly classified, his conduct may very well have broken the law".

Charging such a senior official for mishandling classified documents is "uncommon" but not unprecedented, noted Carrie Cordero, a expert at the Center for a New American Security.

"Cases that involve classified information pose difficulties to try, but they may and are brought against both junior and high-level personnel, from time to time," she said.

Parallels to Investigations into Trump and President

Trump similarly faced charges of improperly keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and obstructing their recovery, but that matter was eventually thrown out by a court official and voided by his re-election as president.

A special counsel also determined that former President Joe Biden wrongfully stored sensitive materials from his time as vice president, but failed to criminally charge him.

Bolton's situation bears similarities to Biden's sensitive materials issues, noted Mr Lesko, who previously held a top national security position at the Justice Department.

Rigorous protocols regulate the handling of sensitive materials. To secure a guilty verdict, the government must prove that Bolton knew the information he was sending was restricted, and he had to knowingly transmit it to someone without authorization to receive it.

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

A Increasingly Conventional Legal Action

The process by which the Justice Department initiated this legal action will be closely examined, following Trump publicly posted his wish to see his political opponents prosecuted and several of those charges materialized.

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

"The Bolton case and eventually the charge seemed to have observed the standard procedure including the regulations and norms within the DOJ," he stated.

Unlike Comey's short, concise charge, Bolton's was a more "conventional" filing that "clearly outlines the details concerning the facts and circumstances in this instance," Mr Lesko said.

"It appears fairly aligned with a long line of cases... where government officials improperly handled and transmitted classified material."