Former President Donald Trump's trouble with the criminal justice system began earlier this year when he was indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alive Bragg over an alleged payoff to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Even some left-wing observers have expressed skepticism over Bragg's ability to secure a conviction. However, legal experts say federal charges brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith are far more serious. 

Jonathan Turley: Smith is "a serious prosecutor"

One of them is George Washington University Law School professor Jonathan Turley, who recently described Smith's case as a "whole new ballgame."

"I know a lot of people have criticized [Jack] Smith for his background, but he's no Alvin Bragg. He's a serious prosecutor," Turley told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" on Friday.

Former Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Charlie Dent made similar arguments in an op-ed piece published by MSNBC the day before.

Dent acknowledged that "Trump and his allies have found plenty of angles of attack" against Bragg as well as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is investigating a phone call the former president had with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger following the 2020 election.

Dent says it will be "far harder to argue" that Smith is politically motivated

"For one thing, both of those prosecutors are elected Democrats, enabling Trump to hammer them as politically motivated hacks," Dent wrote.

However, the former congressman maintained that Smith's status as "an unelected career prosecutor" who "is not currently aligned with a political party" makes him immune from such criticism.

"Trump can complain about witch hunts all he wants, but political bias is far harder to argue with Smith — at least with a straight face," Dent claimed.

Yet that contention hasn't stopped prominent Republicans from insisting that Smith's charges are nothing more than an attempt to distract voters from corruption allegations against President Joe Biden.

"Unprecedented weaponization of the federal government"

The SAME DAY @GOPoversight is shown a document by the FBI showing evidence that Biden and his son were each paid $5 million dollars by a foreign national the DOJ indicts Trump. Coincidental? I think not. pic.twitter.com/YdmbbAo6fX

— Anna Paulina Luna (@VoteAPL) June 8, 2023

House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik told Fox News, "The exact same day that the FBI is forced to turn over to Congress absolutely damning and credible allegations regarding Joe Biden’s illegal, egregious, and treasonous corruption, Joe Biden weaponizes his Department of Justice to indict Donald Trump."

"The American people are smart and understand this is the epitome of the illegal and unprecedented weaponization of the federal government against Joe Biden’s leading opponent, President Donald J. Trump," the New York congresswoman insisted.

"The radical Far Left will stop at nothing to interfere with the 2024 election in order to prop up the catastrophic presidency and desperate campaign of Joe Biden," she added.