🔗 Share this article

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

"We can't delay further, it's killing our reputation and credibility," the leader stated recently in a Truth Social message.

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

Both have since been indicted, in situations that numerous specialists have stated seem to be driven by politics and difficult to succeed in court.

But the most recent charges against a Trump critic, ex security advisor John Bolton, stand apart, legal experts and former prosecutors say.

"I would say, comparing Bolton's charges to Comey's is like comparing apples to oranges," stated Mark Lesko, a ex federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York.

This Details of Bolton's Legal Situation

Bolton has been criminally indicted on national allegations pertaining to the supposed improper handling of classified information. After departing the White House in 2019, he has become a outspoken presidential opponent, even to describe him "stunningly uninformed" and unfit for the presidency in his memoir.

Experts say that while there may be political motivations to target Bolton, the procedures used to obtain an indictment and the evidence compiled against him suggest a possibly more substantial case than the DOJ brought against Comey.

"These actions that's being claimed is both more severe and appears to have occurred over a considerable duration," said Carissa Byrne Hessick, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law.

Throughout his tenure as Trump's national security adviser, and following his 2019 White House exit, prosecutors alleged that Bolton put the nation at danger by wrongfully keeping and transmitting classified information to relatives using unprotected methods, including AOL. Some of the documents were marked highly classified.

The indictment states that at one point a hacker gained access to Bolton's system where documents were kept and transmitted an apparent warning to cause "the largest controversy since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were leaked".

Bolton pleaded not guilty during a hearing on Friday to eighteen separate charges of improperly handling classified information.

Political Motivation or a Substantial Legal Argument?

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

Trump previously suggested Bolton belonged in prison, and described him a "sleazebag". Bolton, for his part, wrote a publication about his experience in the Trump government that was highly critical of the president.

"There's no question that the timing of this charge, when combined with additional cases, has raised doubts about the strength of these charges, and the reason these counts are being filed at this time," stated Jamil Jaffer, creator and executive director of the National Security Institute.

However, he continued, "should the DOJ is capable to prove the facts stated and show the information is properly classified, his conduct may very well have violated the statute".

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.

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

Similarities to Investigations into Former President and Biden

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

A independent investigator additionally found that former President Joe Biden wrongfully stored sensitive materials from his period as second-in-command, but failed to criminally charge him.

Bolton's situation bears similarities to Trump's classified documents matters, said Mr Lesko, who also held a senior national security role at the DOJ.

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

"Because of the sensitive nature of the information at question in this matter, we lack a great deal of details about why the prosecution contends things like the personal notes and the other material he communicated by email, and why there were classified," said Mr Jaffer.

A More Conventional Legal Action

The process by which the Justice Department initiated this legal action will be under scrutiny, following Trump publicly posted his wish to see his political opponents charged and some of those indictments materialized.

But Mr Lesko indicated in Bolton's case, prosecutors appear to have adhered to protocol.

"This Bolton prosecution and ultimately the indictment appeared to have observed the standard process including the rules and standards within the Department of Justice," he stated.

Unlike Comey's brief, concise charge, Bolton's was a more "conventional" filing that "explicitly outlines the details concerning the circumstances and situation here," Mr Lesko said.

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