🔗 Share this article

Ex-President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to see opponents investigated, applying pressure on the DOJ to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"We can't delay further, it's killing our reputation and credibility," the president wrote last month in a Truth Social message.

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

Each have subsequently been charged, in situations that numerous specialists have stated appear to be driven by politics and difficult to win in legal proceedings.

But the most recent allegations against a Trump critic, former national security adviser John Bolton, differ significantly, legal specialists and former prosecutors say.

"I would say, contrasting Bolton's charges to Comey's is like equating apples to oranges," stated Mark Lesko, a former acting US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

The Details of Bolton's Case

Bolton has been formally charged on national allegations related to the supposed mishandling of sensitive materials. Since leaving the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a outspoken presidential opponent, going so far as to describe 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 secure an charge and the proof gathered against him indicate a possibly more substantial case than the Justice Department presented against Comey.

"This misconduct that's being claimed is both more severe and appears 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 security advisor, and following his 2019 White House exit, prosecutors alleged that Bolton placed the nation at risk by wrongfully retaining and transmitting sensitive documents to family members using insecure means, including AOL. Some of the materials were marked top secret.

The indictment states that at one point a unauthorized user accessed to Bolton's account where documents were kept and transmitted an apparent threat to cause "the biggest controversy since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were leaked".

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

Political Motivation or a Substantial Case?

The schedule of his indictment - arriving on the heels of charges against Comey - has revived concerns about political pressure on the legal system.

Trump once implied Bolton belonged in jail, and described him a "sleazebag". Bolton, for his part, wrote a publication about his time in the Trump administration that was sharply negative of the president.

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

Nevertheless, he continued, "if the DOJ is capable to prove the allegations alleged and demonstrate the material is correctly designated, his behavior may certainly have violated the law".

Charging such a high-ranking figure for improperly handling sensitive materials is "uncommon" but not without precedent, noted Carrie Cordero, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

"Situations that involve classified information present difficulties to try, but they can and are filed against equally junior and high-level personnel, from occasionally," she said.

Similarities to Investigations into Former President and President

Trump similarly faced allegations of wrongfully storing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and hindering their return, but that case was eventually thrown out by a court official and voided by his return as president.

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

Bolton's situation shares characteristics to Trump's classified documents issues, noted Mr Lesko, who also held a senior security position at the DOJ.

Strict protocols regulate the handling of sensitive materials. To win a guilty verdict, the government must prove that Bolton was aware the material he was transmitting was classified, and he had to intentionally transmit it to someone without authorization to receive it.

"Due to the classified nature of the information at question in this matter, we lack a lot of particulars about why the prosecution contends elements like the diary entries and the additional information he shared by electronic message, and why there were restricted," explained Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Conventional Legal Action

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

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

"The Bolton prosecution and ultimately the charge seemed to have observed the regular process including the regulations and norms within the Department of Justice," he said.

In contrast to Comey's brief, two-page indictment, Bolton's was a increasingly "traditional" filing that "clearly outlines the particulars concerning the facts and circumstances in this instance," Mr Lesko said.

"It seems fairly aligned with a long line of cases... where public servants improperly handled and transmitted classified material."