在乔·拜登、迈克·彭斯和唐纳德·川普的家中发现了机密文件。
前副总统彭斯是最新一个报告在其印第安纳住所发现机密材料的人。这一发现是在特别顾问调查前总统特朗普和拜登总统离任时如何处理机密文件的情况下发现的。
以下是迄今为止三个案例的要点和问题。
文件是在何时何地被发现的
美国国家档案馆首次要求特朗普在离任后交出失踪的记录。经过几个月的努力，从他在佛罗里达州的Mar-a-Lago庄园获得了这些文件，该机构发现他拥有机密材料，并将此事提交给了司法部。DOJ的调查在2022年夏天加大，从6月份对Mar-a-Lago的访问开始，随后在8月份执行了搜查令。
联邦调查局表示，在国家档案馆找到的箱子里有184份带有分类标记的文件，以及联邦调查局8月份搜查时查获的物品清单表现共检索到11套文件，从机密到绝密和敏感的分类信息不等。
就拜登而言，11月2日，当华盛顿特区的佩恩·拜登中心(Penn Biden Center)正在清理办公室时，“意外地”在一个上锁的壁橱里发现了“少量”他担任副总统期间的文件。
根据司法部长梅里克·加兰的说法，12月下旬，他的律师在他特拉华州威尔明顿住所的车库和相邻的房间里发现了更多的文件。根据拜登的私人律师鲍勃·鲍尔(Bob Bauer)的说法，DOJ随后于1月20日对威尔明顿的家进行了搜查，带走了拜登在参议院和副总统时期的六件带有分类标记的文件。
拜登的律师一再表示，在这些地方发现了“少量”文件。目前还不清楚到底找到了多少文件，也不清楚它们包含哪些信息。美国广播公司新闻报道称，在佩恩·拜登中心发现的一些文件被标为绝密。
彭斯聘请外部律师于1月16日在其印第安纳州的家中对记录进行了审查，据他的律师格雷格·雅各布称。在那次审查中，雅各布说，在移交给联邦调查局之前，发现了“少量可能包含敏感或机密信息的文件”，并将其锁在一个保险箱中。
谁在接受调查?
特朗普和拜登都在接受调查。由AG Garland任命的两名独立的特别律师正在进行调查。
特朗普否认有不当行为，称在没有证据的情况下，他在家中解密了这些记录。
白宫法律顾问办公室的律师表示，他们“有信心”对拜登事件的调查将表明，任何对文件的不当处理都是一个“错误”
消息人士告诉ABC新闻，在彭斯家中发现的文件正在接受司法部国家安全司和联邦调查局的审查。彭斯的律师格雷格·雅各布(Greg Jacob)表示，彭斯“随时准备并愿意配合”任何“适当的调查”。
可能的后果是什么?
下面的总统记录法案所有官方资料都是政府财产，必须在总统任期结束时提供给国家档案馆。违反1978年法律的行为很少受到追究或起诉。专家在Mar-a-Lago的搜查结束后告诉ABC新闻，他们对违反总统记录法案的刑事指控表示怀疑。
拜登和特朗普案件的调查人员可能还在调查违反其他联邦法规的潜在行为，这些法规规定了对机密材料的不当处理，例如与故意隐瞒公共记录有关的行为。
对特朗普来说，阻挠也是一个关键问题。联邦检察官在搜查证词中提到，有人试图阻挠对其遗产文件的调查。
这两个人也有潜在的政治影响:特朗普已经宣布参加2024年的竞选，拜登预计将很快决定是否竞选连任。彭斯也被认为是2024年的可能竞争者。
现在占多数的众议院共和党人正在对拜登处理文件的方式展开自己的调查。
为什么机密文件现在成为焦点?
特朗普的案件让此事成为全国关注的焦点。拜登的团队试图通过声明从一开始就与DOJ合作，在这两个问题之间创造一些曙光。但白宫正在接受审查，因为直到机密文件在佩恩·拜登中心首次被发现10周后，才向公众披露文件的发现。
2023年1月13日，乔·拜登总统在华盛顿特区的白宫椭圆形办公室。
Mandel Ngan/AFP通过Getty Images，文件
雅各布说，一旦拜登文件问题在1月份为人所知，彭斯就与外部法律顾问接触，对他家中的记录进行审查。他说，此举是“出于谨慎”。
机密文件有多普遍?
许多人现在质疑到底有多少信息是保密的，有多少人能接触到敏感信息，以及这些信息是如何被追踪的。
美国广播公司新闻撰稿人、前国土安全部副部长约翰·科恩在美国广播公司的“从这里开始”播客人们可以很容易地接触到机密材料，其中的“绝大多数”不需要经过严格的签到和签出程序。
当ABC新闻的MaryAlice Parks问及该系统是否需要改革时，白宫发言人John Kirby表示，“这些程序的存在是有原因的，它们已经发展了很多很多年，因为机密材料的性质已经发生了变化，”指的是新的电子功能。
至于是否存在过度分类的问题，Kirby说这是“我们试图达成的平衡，以确保一切都得到适当的标记和适当的处理。”
5 questions and takeaways from the Trump, Biden and Pence classified documents cases
Classified documents have been discovered at the homes of Joe Biden, Mike Pence and Donald Trump.
Pence, a former vice president, is the latest to report classified material found at his Indiana residence. The discovery comes amid special counsel investigations into how former President Trump and President Biden handled classified documents when they left office.
Below are key takeaways and questions from the three cases so far.
Where and when the documents were found
The National Archives first requested that Trump turn over missing records after he left office. After a months-long effort to get the documents from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, the agency discovered he had classified material and referred the matter to the Department of Justice. The DOJ probe ramped up in the summer of 2022, starting with a visit to Mar-a-Lago in June followed by the execution of a search warrant in August.
The FBI said there were 184 documents bearing classification markings in the boxes recovered by the National Archives, and an inventory of items seized during the FBI's August searchshowed11 sets of documents were retrieved of various classifications ranging from confidential to top secret and sensitive compartmented information.
In Biden's case, a "small number" of documents from his vice presidency were "unexpectedly" found in a locked closet at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 2 as the office was being cleared out.
In late December, more documents were found by his attorneys in the garage and in an adjacent room of his Wilmington, Delaware, residence, according to Attorney General Merrick Garland. The DOJ later conducted a search of the Wilmington home on Jan. 20, taking six items consisting of documents with classification markings from Biden's time in the Senate and as vice president, according to Bob Bauer, Biden's personal attorney.
Biden's attorneys have repeatedly said that a "small number" of documents were found at the locations. It's not clear exactly how many documents were found or what information they contain. ABC News has reported that some documents found at the Penn Biden Center were marked top secret.
Pence engaged outside counsel to conduct a review on Jan. 16 of records at his Indiana home,according to his attorney Greg Jacob. During that review, Jacob said a "small number of documents that could potentially contain sensitive or classified information" were found and locked in a safe before being turned over to the FBI.
Who is under investigation?
Both Trump and Biden are under investigation. The probes are being carried out by two separate special counsels appointed by AG Garland.
This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice on Aug. 30, 2022, and redacted in part by the FBI, shows a photo of documents seized during the Aug. 8 search by the FBI of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Department of Justice via AP, FILE
Trump has denied wrongdoing, saying, without evidence, that he declassified the records at his home.
Lawyers in the Office of the White House Counsel said they were "confident" the investigation into the Biden matter will show any mishandling of documents were a "mistake."
The documents found at Pence's home are undergoing a review by the Department of Justice's National Security Division and the FBI, sources told ABC News. Pence's attorney, Greg Jacob, said Pence "stands ready and willing to cooperate" with "any appropriate inquiry."
What are the possible ramifications?
Underthe Presidential Records Act, all official material is government property and has to be provided to the National Archives at the end of a president's term. Violations of the 1978 law have rarely been pursued or prosecuted. Experts told ABC News after the search at Mar-a-Lago they were skeptical of criminal charges being brought for violations of the Presidential Records Act.
Investigators in Biden's and Trump's cases may also be looking at potential violations of other federal statutes dictating the mishandling of classified material, such as those pertaining to the willful concealment of public records.
For Trump, obstruction is also a key issue. Federal prosecutors cited efforts to obstruct the probe of documents at his estate in the search affidavit.
There are also potential political ramifications for each of the men: Trump already announced his 2024 candidacy and Biden is expected to soon make a decision on whether he will run for reelection. Pence is also considered a possible 2024 contender.
House Republicans, now the majority, are launching their own investigation into Biden's handling of documents.
Why are classified documents coming into the spotlight now?
Trump's case brought the matter into the national spotlight. Biden's team has attempted to create some daylight between the two matters by stating it has been working with the DOJ from the onset. But the White House is under scrutiny for not disclosing the discovery of documents to the public until 10 weeks after classified documents were first discovered at the the Penn Biden Center.
Jacob said Pence engaged with outside counsel to have a review of the records in his home once the Biden documents issue became known in January. The move was "out of an abundance of caution," he said.
How prevalent are classified documents?
Many are now questioning just how much information is classified, how many people have access to sensitive information and how it's tracked.
John Cohen, an ABC News contributor and former Department of Homeland Security undersecretary, said onABC's "Start Here" podcastthere's broad access to classified material and the "overwhelming majority" of it is not subject to a stringent sign-in, sign-out process.
When asked by ABC News' MaryAlice Parks if the system needs to be reformed, White House spokesperson John Kirby said "the procedures exist for a reason and they've been developed over many, many years as the nature of classified material has changed," pointing to new electronic capabilities.
As to whether there's a problem of an overclassification, Kirby said it's "a balance that we try to strike to make sure that everything is appropriately marked and appropriately handled."
