Classified records pose conundrum stretching back to Carter

By ZEKE MILLER, FARNOUSH AMIRI, COLLEEN LONG and JILL COLVIN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The mishandling of classified documents is not a problem unique to President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. At least three presidents, a vice president, a secretary of state and an attorney general have all been tripped up. The issue of classified records and who, exactly, has hung onto them has gotten more complicated as news surfaced Tuesday that former Vice President Mike Pence also had such records in his possession after he left office. As in Biden’s case, lawyers for Pence say he willingly turned the documents over to authorities. The latest discoveries lay bare an uncomfortable truth about the nation’s secrets: Policies meant to control the handling of sensitive information are haphazardly enforced among top officials.