🔗 Share this article Why the Bolton Case Stands Apart Significantly from Additional Former President Critics Ex security advisor John Bolton appears at court on recently. Ex-President Donald Trump has repeatedly shown his desire to see critics probed, applying influence on the DOJ to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. "We cannot postpone further, it's killing our reputation and credibility," the leader stated last month in a Truth Social message. "I was impeached me, and indicted me (five times!)" he said, mentioning the multiple legal proceedings he faced after leaving the White House in 2021 and James's lawsuit. Each have subsequently been charged, in situations that many experts have said seem to be driven by politics and challenging to succeed in court. But the most recent allegations against a presidential opponent, ex security advisor John Bolton, stand apart, legal specialists and ex-prosecutors say. "I would say, contrasting Bolton's charges to James' is like equating two different things," said Mark Lesko, a ex federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York. The Details of the Legal Situation Bolton has been criminally indicted on federal charges pertaining to the alleged mishandling of classified information. 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 book. Specialists contend that while there may be political motivations to go after Bolton, the procedures used to obtain an charge and the evidence gathered against him suggest a potentially stronger legal argument than the DOJ brought against Comey. "These actions that's being alleged is both more severe and seems to have occurred over a considerable duration," said Carissa Byrne Hessick, a professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law. During his time as Trump's national security adviser, and after his 2019 White House exit, authorities claimed that Bolton put the country at risk by wrongfully retaining and transmitting classified information to family members using insecure means, including AOL. Several of the materials were marked top secret. The charge states that at a certain time a unauthorized user accessed to Bolton's account where documents were stored and transmitted an apparent threat to cause "the largest scandal since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were leaked". Bolton pleaded not guilty during a court appearance on Friday to eighteen separate charges of improperly handling sensitive materials. Political Motivation or a Strong Legal Argument? The schedule of his charge - arriving on the heels of charges against James - has renewed concerns about political pressure on the justice system. Trump once implied Bolton belonged in prison, and described him a "sleazebag". Bolton, for his role, wrote a publication about his time in the Trump administration that was sharply negative of the president. "Undoubtedly that the timing of this indictment, when combined with additional cases, has prompted questions about the strength 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, "should the DOJ is capable to prove the facts stated and show the information is correctly designated, his behavior may certainly have broken the statute". Charging such a senior official for mishandling sensitive materials is "uncommon" but not unprecedented, noted Carrie Cordero, a expert at the Center for a New American Security. "Situations that concern classified information present challenges to prosecute, but they can and are brought against both low-level and high-level personnel, from occasionally," she explained. Similarities to Examinations into Former President and President Trump similarly faced charges of wrongfully storing sensitive materials at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and obstructing their recovery, but that matter was eventually dismissed by a court official and negated by his return as president. A special counsel additionally found that ex-President Joe Biden improperly maintained sensitive materials from his period as vice president, but failed to prosecute him. Bolton's situation bears similarities to Biden's classified documents issues, noted Mr Lesko, who also held a senior security position at the DOJ. Strict protocols govern the management of sensitive materials. To win a guilty verdict, the government must prove that Bolton was aware the information he was sending was restricted, and he had to intentionally transmit it to someone without authorization to obtain it. "Due to the classified nature of the information at question in this case, we lack a lot of details about the reasons the prosecution contends things like the diary entries and the additional material he shared by email, and the reason there were classified," explained Mr Jaffer. A More Conventional Prosecution The process by which the Justice Department initiated this case will be closely examined, after Trump publicly posted his desire to see his critics prosecuted and several of those charges materialized. But Mr Lesko said in Bolton's situation, authorities appear to have followed protocol. "The Bolton case and eventually the charge appeared to have observed the regular procedure including the regulations and standards within the DOJ," he said. Unlike Comey's short, concise charge, Bolton's was a more "traditional" filing that "clearly sets forth the details concerning the circumstances and circumstances in this instance," Mr Lesko commented. "It appears reasonably consistent with a series of cases... where government officials improperly handled and transmitted classified material."