For weeks, the White House has insisted (with some justification) that the parallel special-counsel investigations into President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump for mishandling classified documents are in no way comparable. Yet in critical respects, both cases can be traced to a common dysfunction: the willingness of government leaders to disregard the rules that others are expected to follow.
The government goes to great lengths to protect its secrets. As a condition of receiving security clearances, government officials and contractors pledge to adhere to strict rules governing the handling of sensitive material. National-security agencies maintain designated email servers, printers and travel bags for classified documents, many of which can only be read in secure rooms and must be locked in a safe when not in use. Removing such documents from government facilities can result in the loss of security privileges, administrative punishment, job termination and even criminal prosecution.
Because of the vast quantities of classified documents in circulation, some amount of “spillage” is virtually inevitable, but that’s all the more reason for top officials to model good behavior. Both Biden and Trump did the opposite.
