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It’s Tuesday, the traditional day for elections and for our pause-and-consider newsletter on politics and policy. We think of it as a mini-magazine in your inbox.
THE TRUMP, CLINTON AND PETRAEUS CLASSIFIED DOCUMENT CASES
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews
Correspondent
When a former president of the United States faces the possibility of years in prison related to the mishandling of classified documents, questions arise about how this case compares to how others have handled highly sensitive material.
The 37 federal criminal charges came as a result of an investigation led by Special Counsel Jack Smith. At a court appearance Tuesday in Miami, former President Donald Trump entered a plea of not guilty. As we have seen, Republicans insist that Trump is being unfairly and politically prosecuted.
In the past year alone, authorities learned that President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence also had classified documents, but the circumstances in these cases are different.
With Pence, the Justice Department said it would not be pursuing criminal charges and cleared him of any wrongdoing. A special counsel investigation into Biden’s handling of documents is still ongoing. Unlike Trump, the president has so far not faced accusations of intentionally hiding his actions or materials.
We thought it worthwhile to look at a few other past cases, by the details.
DONALD TRUMP
Former U.S. president
- When: 2021-2022.
- Documents searched: Dozens of boxes of materials handed over in three separate groups.
- Classified marks: At least 322 documents marked classified in total, per court filings by the Department of Justice. In this case, the DOJ has not indicated there are any unmarked documents with classified information.
- Top secret? At least 32 documents were marked “top secret,” the highest category of classified information, per the DOJ.
- Where were the documents? At his private residence, Mar-a-Lago, in Florida.
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Watch the segment in the player above.
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- Any shared inappropriately? Possibly. The grand jury indictment charges that Trump shared a map and described a Pentagon plan for attack. We have not yet heard his defense on those specific charges.
- Trump cooperation? This is central in this case. The grand jury indictment alleges not only did Trump delay handing over classified information, but that he instructed a staff member to move the documents ahead of a search and that he suggested to an attorney, regarding FBI requests, "Wouldn't it be better if we just told them we don't have anything here?” We have not heard his defense on those accusations.
- What DOJ did: The Justice Department has charged Trump with 37 counts related to the classified documents he had.
- What Trump did then: He has pleaded not guilty.
HILLARY CLINTON
Presidential candidate. Former secretary of state
- When? 2015-2016. Clinton announced in 2015 that she had used a private email server for some work emails. In July 2016, when Clinton was the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, the FBI announced it was not recommending charges. In late October 2016, the FBI briefly reopened the case, only to close it soon after — on Nov. 6 — two days before the election.
- Documents searched: 30,000 emails.
- Classified marks: Three emails had classified marks, per the FBI.
- Classified information: 110 emails had classified information in them.
- Top secret: Eight email threads contained top secret information, per the FBI.
- Where were the documents? On private email servers at Clinton’s home.
- Any shared inappropriately? None is known. The FBI found that while it was possible that Clinton’s server *could* have been hacked, the agency’s investigation found no evidence that it had been.
- Clinton cooperation? Clinton and the State Department turned over tens of thousands of email files upon request. She and her attorneys said more than a thousand other emails had been destroyed or “wiped” from her private server. After insisting there were no classified documents and refusing to apologize, Clinton did issue a public apology in 2015. In 2016, the F.B.I. found an additional 14,900 emails that had not been handed over. A tiny amount of these contained classified information, as above.
- What DOJ did: FBI Director James Comey read an “unusual statement” on July 5, 2016. He found: No charges were appropriate, after a yearlong investigation; there was no evidence of emails being intentionally deleted; and concluded, “we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.”
DAVID PETRAEUS
Former CIA director
- When? 2012-2015. The FBI searched the home of Petraeus' mistress in 2012. He pleaded guilty in 2015.
- Classified documents: The FBI said it found eight binders of classified material in Petraeus’ home, after he had resigned from the CIA and signed a document saying he had no more classified material.
- Documents where? In an unlocked drawer after searching Petraeus’ home in 2013.
- Any shared inappropriately? Yes. Petraeus shared the material with his then-biographer and eventual mistress, he admitted.
- What DOJ and Petraeus did: The agency moved toward a prosecution of Petraeus. He agreed to a deal, entering a guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of mishandling classified information. Petraeus publicly admitted wrongdoing in the press as well.
- What did the judge do? Petraeus was sentenced to two years’ probation and fined $100,000.
Trump’s court appearance on Tuesday is certainly a historical moment. It's the second time he's been indicted since leaving office — and more investigations are ongoing — as Trump vows to stay in the 2024 presidential race.
After pleading not guilty in Miami, Trump is expected to fly to New Jersey for a campaign event. He’s expected to speak past 8 p.m. Eastern.
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More on politics from our coverage:
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#POLITICSTRIVIA
By Cybele Mayes-Osterman, @CybeleMO
Associate Editorial Producer
The investigation into Donald Trump's handling of classified documents, along with the discovery of classified documents at the homes of President Joe Biden and former Vice President Mike Pence, has attracted new scrutiny to the government's system of document classification.
The Presidential Records Act “requires that all records created by Presidents (and Vice-Presidents) be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) at the end of their administrations," NARA wrote in a rare public statement Friday, a rebuke to Trump’s claims that the act allows him to keep classified material past the end of his term.
Our question: Congress established that presidential records must be returned to the National Archives in 1978, but the government’s system of document classification — top secret, secret, confidential — was already in place. Which president created that system with an executive order?
Send your answers to [email protected] or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.
Last week, we asked: Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has publicly expressed his decadeslong adoration for one musical artist. Who is it?
The answer: Bruce Springsteen. Christie, who has recently launched his 2024 run, may be a major fan of The Boss, but those feelings aren’t necessarily reciprocated.
Congratulations to our winners: Dan Browning and Dick Livingston!
Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.
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