🔗 Share this article

Ex-President Donald Trump has consistently expressed his desire to see opponents investigated, exerting influence on the Justice Department to charge former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"We cannot postpone further, it's damaging our standing and credibility," the leader stated recently in a social media message.

"They impeached me, and charged me (5 times!)" he said, referencing the four criminal cases he faced after leaving the White House in 2021 and James's lawsuit.

Both have subsequently been indicted, in situations that many specialists have said appear to be politically motivated and challenging to win in legal proceedings.

But the most recent allegations against a Trump critic, former security advisor John Bolton, differ significantly, legal experts and ex-prosecutors say.

"In my opinion, comparing Bolton's case to Comey's is like comparing two different things," stated 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 national allegations related to the supposed mishandling of classified information. Since departing the White House in 2019, he has become a vocal Trump critic, even to call him "remarkably ignorant" and unsuitable for office in his book.

Experts say that while there may be political motivations to target Bolton, the procedures used to secure an indictment and the evidence gathered against him suggest a possibly stronger legal argument than the Justice Department presented against James.

"This misconduct that's being claimed is both more serious and appears to have occurred over a significant duration," commented Carissa Byrne Hessick, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law.

During his time as Trump's security advisor, and after his 2019 White House exit, authorities alleged that Bolton placed the country at danger by wrongfully keeping and transmitting classified information to relatives using insecure means, including AOL. Several of the materials were labeled top secret.

The charge states that at one point a hacker accessed to Bolton's account where files were kept and sent an seeming threat to cause "the largest scandal since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were released".

Bolton entered a not guilty plea during a hearing on Friday to eighteen distinct counts of improperly handling classified information.

Political Motivation or a Substantial Legal Argument?

The timing of his indictment - arriving on the heels of allegations against James - has revived concerns about political pressure on the justice system.

Trump previously suggested Bolton belonged in jail, and called him a "sleazebag". Bolton, for his part, wrote a book about his experience in the Trump administration that was sharply negative of the leader.

"Undoubtedly that the timing of this indictment, when paired with others, has prompted doubts about the validity of these allegations, and why these charges are being brought at this time," said Jamil Jaffer, creator and executive director of the National Security Institute.

Nevertheless, he continued, "should the DOJ is capable to prove the allegations alleged and demonstrate the information is correctly designated, his conduct may very well have broken the statute".

Prosecuting such a senior official for improperly handling sensitive materials is "rare" but not without precedent, said Carrie Cordero, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

"Situations that concern classified information pose difficulties to prosecute, but they can and are brought against equally low-level and senior officials, from occasionally," she said.

Similarities to Examinations into Trump and Biden

Trump similarly faced charges of wrongfully keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and obstructing their return, but that case was ultimately dismissed by a court official and voided by his re-election as leader.

A special counsel also determined that ex-President Joe Biden wrongfully maintained sensitive materials from his time as second-in-command, but did not criminally charge him.

Bolton's case shares characteristics to Trump's classified documents issues, said Mr Lesko, who also held a top security position at the Justice Department.

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

"Due to the classified character of the material at question in this matter, we don't have a lot of particulars about why the government believes elements like the personal notes and the additional material he communicated by electronic message, and why there were restricted," said Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Conventional Legal Action

The process by which the DOJ initiated this legal action will be closely examined, following Trump publicly posted his desire to see his political opponents prosecuted and several of those indictments came to fruition.

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

"The Bolton case and eventually the charge appeared to have observed the regular process including the regulations and standards within the Department of Justice," he said.

In contrast to Comey's short, concise charge, Bolton's was a more "traditional" filing that "clearly outlines the particulars concerning the circumstances and circumstances here," Mr Lesko commented.

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