🔗 Share this article

Ex-President Donald Trump has consistently shown his wish 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 further, it's damaging our standing and credibility," the president stated last month in a social media post.

"They impeached me, and indicted me (five times!)" he said, mentioning the multiple legal proceedings he encountered after leaving the White House in 2021 and James's civil case.

Each have since been indicted, in cases that many experts have said appear to be driven by politics and challenging to win in legal proceedings.

But the most recent charges against a presidential opponent, ex security advisor John Bolton, stand apart, legal experts and former prosecutors assert.

"In my opinion, contrasting Bolton's case to James' is like comparing two different things," stated Mark Lesko, a ex acting US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

This Specifics of Bolton's Case

Bolton has been formally charged on national allegations pertaining to the supposed mishandling of sensitive materials. Since leaving the White House in 2019, he has become a outspoken presidential opponent, going so far as to describe him "stunningly uninformed" and unsuitable for office in his memoir.

Specialists contend that while there may be political reasons to go after Bolton, the procedures used to secure an indictment and the proof compiled against him indicate a potentially more substantial case than the Justice Department presented against James.

"This misconduct that's being alleged is simultaneously more serious and appears to have occurred over a considerable 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 departure, prosecutors alleged that Bolton placed the country at danger by improperly keeping and sending classified information to relatives using unprotected methods, including AOL. Several of the documents were marked highly classified.

The indictment alleges that at a certain time a unauthorized user accessed to Bolton's system where documents were stored and transmitted an seeming threat to cause "the biggest scandal since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were released".

Bolton entered a not guilty plea during a court appearance on recently to eighteen separate counts of improperly handling sensitive materials.

Retribution or a Strong Case?

The timing of his charge - coming on the heels of charges against Comey - has revived concerns about external influence on the justice system.

Trump previously implied Bolton should be in prison, and described him a "disreputable person". Bolton, for his role, authored a publication 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 the reason these counts are being brought now," said Jamil Jaffer, founder and director of the National Security Institute.

However, he continued, "should the Justice Department is capable to demonstrate the facts alleged and show the material is properly classified, his behavior may very well have broken the statute".

Charging such a high-ranking official for mishandling sensitive materials is "rare" but not unprecedented, said Carrie Cordero, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

"Cases that concern sensitive materials pose difficulties to prosecute, but they may and are filed against equally junior and senior officials, from time to time," she explained.

Similarities to Examinations into Trump and Biden

Trump similarly faced allegations of improperly storing classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and hindering their recovery, but that case was ultimately thrown out by a court official and voided by his re-election as leader.

A independent investigator additionally determined that ex-President Joe Biden improperly stored sensitive materials from his period as vice president, but did not criminally charge him.

Bolton's case bears similarities to Trump's classified documents matters, noted Mr Lesko, who also held a top national security role at the Justice Department.

Strict protocols regulate the management of classified documents. To secure a guilty verdict, the government must demonstrate that Bolton was aware the material he was transmitting was classified, and he had to knowingly transmit it to someone not entitled to receive it.

"Due to the sensitive nature of the material at question in this matter, we don't have a great deal of details about the reasons the government contends elements like the personal notes and the additional material he shared by electronic message, and the reason there were restricted," said Mr Jaffer.

A Increasingly Conventional Legal Action

The process by which the DOJ brought this legal action will be closely examined, after Trump openly expressed his desire to see his critics prosecuted and several of those indictments came to fruition.

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

"This Bolton prosecution and eventually the indictment 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, concise indictment, Bolton's was a increasingly "traditional" document that "explicitly outlines the particulars involving the facts and situation here," Mr Lesko said.

"It seems fairly consistent with a long line of precedents... where government officials mishandled and shared classified material."