'Lasting harm': Ex-prosecutor reveals why Bolton is different from other Trump defendants

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton is now the third prominent opponent of President Donald Trump to face criminal charges in as many weeks. But one former federal prosecutor is highlighting one key difference between Bolton's case and the other two cases against Trump's political adversaries.

A grand jury in Greenbelt, Maryland on Thursday returned an 18-count indictment of Bolton on alleged transmission and retention of national defense information. With the indictment, Bolton joins former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) as Trump opponents who have now been targeted by his Department of Justice.

However, During a Thursday appearance on MSNBC, Andrew Weissmann – who was an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York — said that there's one key difference between Bolton and others: That he was an "insider." He argued that his charges in particular communicate an ominous signal to everyone else in government.

"This is sending a message. Don't do it. Because in the future this can be the result," Weissmann said. "If you don't want to get indicted, put your head down and don't do your job."

"Now, I think it's particularly significant with respect to now indicting somebody who was an insider, and I think that's the reason that you have this indictment," Weissmann continued. "... One of the things that it accomplishes by doing this, by attacking ... people who used to be inside is to say, 'do not speak ill of Donald Trump. Do not go out and and say anything that is derogatory, particularly if you are on the inside. You must be loyal.'"

Weissmann noted that Trump spoke about the indictments in front of Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel, who all were "silent" while the president "violate[d] all sorts of norms."

"And I think that is sort of the way you can tie this all together, in terms of what this president is trying to accomplish and the lasting harm to our country because of the message it sends about what can happen going forward to hold people to account," he added.

Watch the segment below:

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