🔗 Share this article How this John Bolton Legal Situation Differs Significantly from Additional Former President Opponents Former national security adviser John Bolton appears at the courthouse on recently. Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his wish to see critics probed, applying pressure on the Justice Department to prosecute ex FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. "We cannot postpone any longer, it's damaging our standing and trustworthiness," the president stated recently in a Truth Social message. "They impeached twice, and charged me (five times!)" he said, mentioning the multiple legal proceedings he faced after departing the White House in 2021 and James's lawsuit. Each have since been indicted, in situations that numerous specialists have said appear to be driven by politics and challenging to succeed in legal proceedings. But the most recent allegations against a Trump critic, former national security adviser John Bolton, differ significantly, legal experts and ex-prosecutors say. "In my opinion, contrasting Bolton's case to Comey's is like equating two different things," said Mark Lesko, a former federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York. This Details of the Case Bolton has been formally charged on federal charges related to the alleged mishandling of sensitive materials. After leaving the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a vocal presidential opponent, even to call him "remarkably ignorant" and unsuitable for the presidency in his book. Experts say that while there may be political reasons to go after Bolton, the methods used to obtain an indictment and the evidence gathered against him indicate a possibly stronger case than the DOJ brought against James. "These actions that's being claimed is simultaneously more serious and appears to have taken place over a considerable duration," said Carissa Byrne Hessick, a academic at the University of North Carolina School of Law. Throughout his time as Trump's national security adviser, and following his 2019 White House exit, prosecutors alleged that Bolton placed the country at danger by wrongfully retaining and transmitting sensitive documents to relatives using unprotected methods, including AOL. Some of the materials were marked top secret. The charge alleges that at a certain time a hacker accessed to Bolton's account where files were stored and sent an apparent warning to cause "the biggest controversy since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were released". Bolton pleaded not guilty during a court appearance on Friday to 18 separate charges of mishandling classified information. Political Motivation or a Strong Legal Argument? The schedule of his indictment - coming on the heels of allegations against James - has renewed concerns about external influence on the legal system. Trump previously suggested Bolton should be in jail, and described him a "disreputable person". Bolton, for his role, authored a book about his time in the Trump administration that was sharply negative of the leader. "There's no question that the schedule of this charge, when combined with others, has prompted questions about the validity of these charges, and why these counts are being filed at this time," said Jamil Jaffer, founder and executive director of the National Security Institute. However, he continued, "should the DOJ is capable to demonstrate the facts alleged and demonstrate the information is correctly classified, his behavior may certainly have broken the law". Charging such a senior official for mishandling sensitive materials is "rare" but not unprecedented, noted Carrie Cordero, a expert at the Center for a New American Security. "Cases that concern sensitive materials pose difficulties to prosecute, but they can and are brought against equally low-level and senior personnel, from time to time," she explained. Parallels to Investigations into Former President and President Trump likewise encountered charges of improperly storing sensitive materials at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and hindering their recovery, but that case was eventually thrown out by a court official and voided by his re-election as president. A special counsel additionally determined that ex-President Joe Biden wrongfully stored sensitive materials from his time as vice president, but failed to prosecute him. Bolton's situation bears similarities to Biden's sensitive materials issues, noted Mr Lesko, who previously held a senior national security role at the DOJ. Strict procedures govern the handling of classified documents. To win a conviction, the prosecution must prove that Bolton knew the material he was transmitting was classified, and he had to intentionally transmit it to someone without authorization to obtain it. "Because of the sensitive character of the information at question in this matter, we don't have a lot of particulars about the reasons the government contends things like the diary entries and the additional information he communicated by email, and why there were restricted," explained Mr Jaffer. A More Conventional Prosecution The process by which the Justice Department initiated this legal action will be under scrutiny, after Trump openly posted his wish to see his critics prosecuted and some of those indictments came to fruition. But Mr Lesko indicated in Bolton's case, prosecutors seem to have followed protocol. "This Bolton prosecution and ultimately the charge appeared to have followed the regular procedure including the rules and standards within the DOJ," he stated. Unlike Comey's short, two-page charge, Bolton's was a more "conventional" filing that "explicitly sets forth the particulars involving the facts and circumstances here," Mr Lesko commented. "It appears fairly aligned with a long line of cases... where government officials improperly handled and shared classified material."