🔗 Share this article

Ex-President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his wish to see critics probed, exerting influence 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 reputation and trustworthiness," the president wrote recently in a Truth Social message.

"I was impeached twice, 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.

Each have since been indicted, in situations that numerous specialists have said seem to be driven by politics and difficult to succeed in legal proceedings.

But the latest allegations against a Trump critic, former national security adviser John Bolton, stand apart, legal specialists and ex-prosecutors say.

"In my opinion, comparing Bolton's charges to Comey's is like comparing apples to oranges," stated Mark Lesko, a former acting US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

The Details of Bolton's Legal Situation

Bolton has been criminally indicted on federal charges related to the supposed improper handling of sensitive materials. Since departing the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a outspoken Trump critic, going so far as to call him "remarkably ignorant" and unfit for office in his memoir.

Experts say that while there may be political reasons to go after Bolton, the procedures used to obtain an charge and the evidence compiled against him suggest a potentially stronger case than the Justice Department presented against James.

"These actions that's being alleged is both more serious and appears to have taken place over a significant duration," commented Carissa Byrne Hessick, a academic at the University of North Carolina School of Law.

Throughout his tenure as Trump's security advisor, and after his 2019 White House exit, prosecutors alleged that Bolton put the country at danger by wrongfully keeping and sending sensitive documents to family members using insecure means, including AOL. Some of the documents were marked highly classified.

The charge alleges that at one point a hacker accessed to Bolton's account where documents were kept and transmitted an seeming warning to cause "the largest controversy since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were leaked".

Bolton entered a not guilty plea during a hearing on recently to eighteen separate charges of mishandling sensitive materials.

Political Motivation or a Strong Case?

The timing of his charge - coming on the heels of allegations against James - has renewed concerns about political pressure on the justice system.

Trump previously suggested Bolton should be in prison, and described him a "disreputable person". Bolton, for his part, authored a publication about his experience in the Trump administration that was highly critical of the president.

"Undoubtedly that the schedule of this charge, when combined with others, has prompted doubts about the validity of these allegations, and why these charges are being brought now," stated Jamil Jaffer, creator and director of the National Security Institute.

Nevertheless, he added, "if the Justice Department is capable to prove the allegations alleged and demonstrate the information is correctly designated, his behavior may certainly have broken the statute".

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

"Cases that concern sensitive materials present difficulties to try, but they can and are filed against both junior and senior officials, from time to time," she explained.

Similarities to Examinations into Former President and Biden

Trump similarly faced charges of improperly keeping sensitive materials at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and hindering their recovery, but that case was eventually thrown out by a federal judge and voided by his re-election as president.

A special counsel also found that former President Joe Biden wrongfully stored classified documents from his period as second-in-command, but did not criminally charge him.

Bolton's situation bears similarities to Biden's sensitive materials matters, said Mr Lesko, who previously held a top national security position at the DOJ.

Strict procedures govern the management of classified documents. To win a conviction, the prosecution must demonstrate that Bolton knew the information he was sending was restricted, and he had to knowingly transmit it to someone not entitled to receive it.

"Because of the sensitive character of the material at issue in this case, we don't have a lot of details about the reasons the prosecution believes elements like the diary entries and the other material he shared by electronic message, and the reason there were restricted," said Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Traditional Legal Action

The procedure by which the DOJ initiated this legal action will be closely examined, following Trump openly posted his wish to see his critics charged and several of those indictments materialized.

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

"The Bolton prosecution and eventually the indictment seemed to have observed the regular procedure including the rules and standards within the Department of Justice," he stated.

Unlike Comey's brief, concise indictment, Bolton's was a more "conventional" filing that "explicitly outlines the particulars concerning the facts and situation here," Mr Lesko commented.

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