Comparing the classified document discoveries plaguing Biden, Trump and Pence

Washington (CNN) – President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence are all going through scrutiny concerning their potential mishandling of labeled paperwork.

In all three instances, delicate authorities supplies have been present in locations the place they shouldn’t have ended up. However there are key distinctions that differentiate every scenario, together with how Biden, Trump and Pence responded to the invention of paperwork and the way aggressively the Justice Division is at the moment investigating.

Right here’s a breakdown of the similarities and variations between the Biden, Trump and Pence instances.

The Biden and Pence conditions are related – their legal professionals found the labeled paperwork, alerted the Nationwide Archives and Information Administration (NARA) and turned over the papers. In Biden’s case, FBI brokers later discovered further paperwork once they searched his dwelling in Wilmington, Delaware.

Trump adopted a distinct path. After he left the White Home, NARA realized that supplies have been lacking. In Might 2021, they reached out to Trump’s legal professionals who negotiated for months over the voluntary return of a number of containers of essential paperwork.

The Justice Division obtained a subpoena in Might 2022, a 12 months after NARA’s preliminary flag, after suspecting that Trump was nonetheless holding onto some labeled data. Trump gave again extra recordsdata however didn’t return every little thing in his possession. The FBI later executed a search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago resort in August, the place extra paperwork have been discovered. The search was the primary time in American historical past {that a} former president’s dwelling was searched as a part of a felony investigation.

The precise quantity is unknown in Biden’s case. Roughly 20 labeled paperwork had been recovered earlier than the FBI searched Biden’s dwelling in Wilmington. The FBI uncovered much more labeled recordsdata throughout that search, however neither facet has publicly disclosed the particular variety of further paperwork discovered.

For Trump, greater than 325 labeled data have been recovered. This contains paperwork returned voluntarily to NARA, turned over to the Justice Division below subpoena, and located by the FBI.

With Pence’s scenario, CNN has reported that his staff discovered a few dozen paperwork at his Indiana dwelling.

A few of Biden’s paperwork have been marked “prime secret,” which is the very best degree of classification. A few of these paperwork had an “SCI” designation, which stands for “delicate compartmented data” and refers to extraordinarily delicate materials gleaned from US intelligence sources.

No less than 60 of the Trump paperwork have been labeled “prime secret,” together with some recordsdata with SCI markings. There have been additionally some paperwork with “SAP” designation, which stands for “particular entry applications” and is used for paperwork which can be carefully held with particular protocols for who can entry the fabric.

A supply who was briefed on among the Pence paperwork beforehand informed CNN that the federal government papers recovered from his dwelling have been “decrease degree” classification, with none SCI or SAP markings.

Lawyer Common Merrick Garland introduced on particular prosecutors to analyze Biden and Trump. The Trump matter is being investigated by particular counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed in November. And the Biden matter is being investigated by particular counsel Robert Hur, who was appointed in January.

CNN has beforehand reported that the FBI and Justice Division are conducting a evaluate of the Pence paperwork and the way they ended up at his dwelling. That is lower than a full-blown felony probe.

The Trump investigation has progressed the farthest. Federal prosecutors acquired a subpoena, demanded the return of all labeled paperwork and tried to carry Trump in contempt when he didn’t absolutely comply. Investigators additionally acquired a choose to approve a search warrant for Mar-a-Lago and CNN has reported that there’s an lively grand jury primarily based in Washington, DC, that just lately heard testimony from witnesses.

There haven’t been any recognized subpoenas or search warrants within the Biden inquiry, although the FBI has carried out voluntary interviews with among the folks on Biden’s staff who dealt with paperwork.

There aren’t any recognized subpoenas, search warrants or FBI interviews within the Pence-related evaluate.

Biden and Pence each preserve that they engaged early with NARA to return lacking paperwork and are cooperating absolutely with the Justice Division.

Whether or not it was intentional or not, Trump repeatedly missed alternatives to return the paperwork to the federal government. Legal prosecutors finally concluded that there might need been intentional efforts to carry onto the paperwork, and Trump is now below investigation for potential obstruction.