Why this John Bolton Case Differs Significantly from Other Former President Critics
Former President Donald Trump has consistently shown his wish to see critics probed, exerting influence on the Justice Department to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
"We cannot postpone any longer, it's killing our reputation and credibility," the president stated recently in a Truth Social message.
"They impeached me, and indicted me (five times!)" he said, referencing the multiple legal proceedings he faced after departing the White House in 2021 and James's lawsuit.
Both have since been charged, in situations that numerous specialists have said seem to be politically motivated and challenging to succeed in legal proceedings.
But the latest charges against a Trump critic, former security advisor John Bolton, stand apart, legal specialists and ex-prosecutors say.
"I would say, contrasting Bolton's charges 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 Bolton's Case
Bolton has been criminally indicted on federal charges related to the alleged mishandling of classified information. Since departing the White House in 2019, he has emerged as a vocal Trump critic, going so far as to call him "stunningly uninformed" and unfit for office in his memoir.
Experts say that while there may be political reasons to go after Bolton, the methods used to secure an indictment and the proof gathered against him suggest a possibly more substantial case than the Justice Department presented against James.
"These actions that's being alleged is both more severe and seems to have occurred over a considerable duration," commented Carissa Byrne Hessick, a academic at the University of North Carolina School of Law.
Throughout his time as Trump's national security adviser, and after his 2019 White House departure, prosecutors claimed that Bolton placed the country at risk by improperly retaining and sending 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 stored and sent an seeming threat to cause "the largest scandal since Hillary [Clinton]'s emails were leaked".
Bolton pleaded not guilty during a hearing on recently to 18 separate counts of improperly handling classified information.
Retribution or a Strong Case?
The schedule of his indictment - arriving on the heels of charges against James - has renewed concerns about external influence on the legal system.
Trump previously suggested Bolton belonged in prison, and described him a "disreputable person". Bolton, for his part, authored a publication about his time in the Trump government that was highly critical of the leader.
"There's no question that the timing of this indictment, when combined with additional cases, has prompted doubts about the strength of these allegations, and the reason these charges are being filed now," said Jamil Jaffer, creator and director of the National Security Institute.
Nevertheless, he added, "should the DOJ is capable to prove the facts alleged and demonstrate the information is correctly designated, his conduct may certainly have broken the law".
Prosecuting such a high-ranking official for improperly handling sensitive materials is "uncommon" but not unprecedented, noted Carrie Cordero, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.
"Cases that involve classified information present difficulties to prosecute, but they may and are filed against equally low-level and senior personnel, from time to time," she explained.
Parallels to Examinations into Former President and President
Trump likewise faced charges of improperly keeping sensitive materials at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and hindering their return, but that case was ultimately thrown out by a court official and voided by his return as president.
A independent investigator also found that former President Joe Biden improperly maintained classified documents from his period as vice president, but failed to prosecute him.
Bolton's case shares characteristics to Biden's classified documents issues, said Mr Lesko, who previously held a top national security position at the DOJ.
Strict procedures regulate the management of classified documents. To win a guilty verdict, the prosecution must demonstrate that Bolton knew the information he was transmitting was classified, and he had to intentionally transfer it to someone not entitled to obtain it.
"Due to the classified nature of the material at question in this case, we lack a lot of details about the reasons the prosecution contends elements like the diary entries and the other material he shared by electronic message, and the reason there were classified," said Mr Jaffer.
A More Traditional Legal Action
The procedure by which the Justice Department initiated this case will be closely examined, following Trump publicly expressed his desire to see his political opponents charged and several of those indictments came to fruition.
But Mr Lesko said in Bolton's case, authorities seem to have followed standard procedure.
"The Bolton case and eventually the indictment seemed to have observed the regular process including the regulations and norms within the DOJ," he said.
In contrast to Comey's short, two-page charge, Bolton's was a increasingly "traditional" document that "explicitly sets forth the details concerning the circumstances and situation here," Mr Lesko said.
"It seems fairly consistent with a series of precedents... where government officials mishandled and shared sensitive information."