How the Bolton Case Differs Significantly from Other Former President Opponents
Ex-President Donald Trump has repeatedly shown his desire to see critics probed, applying influence on the Justice Department to charge ex FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
"We cannot postpone further, it's damaging our reputation and trustworthiness," the leader wrote last month in a social media post.
"I was 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.
Each have since been charged, in cases that many experts have said appear to be politically motivated and difficult to win in legal proceedings.
But the latest charges against a presidential opponent, former security advisor John Bolton, stand apart, legal experts and ex-prosecutors say.
"I would say, contrasting Bolton's charges to Comey's is like equating apples to oranges," stated Mark Lesko, a ex federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of New York.
The Specifics of Bolton's Legal Situation
Bolton has been formally charged on federal charges pertaining to the alleged improper handling of sensitive materials. Since leaving the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a vocal presidential opponent, going so far as to describe 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 procedures used to obtain an charge and the proof compiled against him suggest a possibly more substantial legal argument than the Justice Department presented against Comey.
"This misconduct that's being claimed is simultaneously more severe and appears to have taken place over a considerable period of time," commented Carissa Byrne Hessick, a academic at the University of North Carolina School of Law.
During his tenure as Trump's national security adviser, and after his 2019 White House departure, authorities claimed that Bolton put the country at danger by wrongfully keeping and sending classified information to family members using unprotected methods, including AOL. Several of the documents were labeled highly classified.
The indictment states that at one point a hacker gained access to Bolton's account where files were stored and transmitted an seeming warning to cause "the largest scandal since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were released".
Bolton pleaded not guilty during a hearing on recently to 18 separate counts of improperly handling classified information.
Political Motivation or a Strong Case?
The schedule of his indictment - arriving on the heels of allegations against Comey - has revived questions about external influence on the justice system.
Trump once implied Bolton belonged in jail, and described him a "disreputable person". Bolton, for his part, wrote a publication about his experience in the Trump government that was highly critical of the leader.
"There's no question that the timing of this indictment, when paired with additional cases, has raised questions about the validity of these allegations, and why these counts are being brought at this time," stated Jamil Jaffer, creator and executive director of the National Security Institute.
However, he continued, "should the DOJ is able to prove the facts stated and demonstrate the material is properly designated, his behavior may certainly have broken the law".
Charging such a high-ranking official for mishandling classified documents is "uncommon" but not without precedent, said Carrie Cordero, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.
"Cases that involve classified information pose challenges to prosecute, but they may and are filed against equally junior and senior personnel, from time to time," she explained.
Parallels to Investigations into Former President and Biden
Trump similarly faced charges of wrongfully keeping classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida and obstructing their return, but that matter was ultimately thrown out by a court official and negated by his re-election as president.
A independent investigator also determined that former President Joe Biden wrongfully maintained sensitive materials from his period as second-in-command, but failed to criminally charge him.
Bolton's case shares characteristics to Trump's sensitive materials issues, said Mr Lesko, who previously held a senior security position at the DOJ.
Strict protocols govern the management of sensitive materials. To secure a conviction, the government must demonstrate that Bolton knew the information he was sending was classified, and he had to intentionally transfer it to someone not entitled to obtain it.
"Because of the sensitive nature of the information at issue in this matter, we don't have a lot of particulars about the reasons the prosecution believes elements like the diary entries and the additional material he communicated by email, and the reason there were classified," explained Mr Jaffer.
A Increasingly Traditional Legal Action
The process by which the DOJ brought this case will be under scrutiny, after Trump openly expressed his wish to see his political opponents prosecuted and several of those indictments came to fruition.
But Mr Lesko said in Bolton's case, authorities appear to have adhered to standard procedure.
"This Bolton prosecution and eventually the indictment appeared to have observed the regular process including the regulations and standards within the Department of Justice," he stated.
In contrast to Comey's short, two-page indictment, Bolton's was a more "traditional" document that "explicitly sets forth the particulars involving the facts and situation here," Mr Lesko said.
"It appears reasonably consistent with a series of precedents... where government officials mishandled and shared sensitive information."
