;)
Sunday
Jun112023
June 12, 2023
Afternoon Update:
Marie: MSNBC & CNN are going all-in, O.J.-style, with the Trump indictment. CNN even ran O.J.-type slow-car-chase video as Trump's motorcade was going to Newark Airport. Really. They just need a countdown clock to the time Trump's arraignment is supposed to start. ~~~
~~~ Some good news maybe. Andrew Weissmann, speaking on MSNBC, said Judge Aileen Cannon likely will not be allowed to scrub testimony & evidence from Trump attorney Evan Corcoran. Weissmann described the piercing of the attorney-client privilege as "already adjudicated," and not something Cannon can overturn. If she does try, no doubt an Appeals Court would overrule her, Weissmann said. As far as the issue of her recusal, Weissmann noted that Cannon's most "troubling" remark in her rulings was that Trump should receive special deference because he was a former POTUS*. This, Weissmann notes, tosses the foundational principle of equal justice. As the New York Times noted in September 2022, Cannon wrote, "'As a function of plaintiff's former position as president of the United States, the stigma associated with the subject seizure is in a league of its own.' She also noted that, because of the search of Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump faced 'unquantifiable potential harm by way of improper disclosure of sensitive information to the public.'" Weissmann & Mary McCord discuss some of this in this podcast, beginning at about 26 min. in.
Elahi Izadi & Will Sommer of the Washington Post: "Fred Ryan, the publisher and chief executive of The Washington Post for most of the decade since it was bought by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, will leave the company in August, he announced Monday. Ryan, 68, will lead the newly formed nonpartisan Center on Public Civility at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. Patty Stonesifer, the founding chief executive of the Gates Foundation and more recently the director of the Amazon board, was named the interim CEO of The Post on Monday, starting immediately, and is leading the search for Ryan's replacement." MB: Don't know anything about Stonesifer, but good riddance to Ryan. The Reagan Foundation is the ideal fit for him.
~~~~~~~~~~
Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "In the 49-page federal indictment accusing [Donald Trump] of retaining classified documents after leaving the White House and scheming to block government efforts to retrieve them, some of the most potentially damning evidence came from notes made by one of those lawyers, M. Evan Corcoran. Mr. Corcoran's notes, first recorded into an iPhone and then transcribed on paper, essentially gave prosecutors a road map to building their case. Mr. Trump, according to the indictment, pressured Mr. Corcoran to thwart investigators from reclaiming reams of classified material and even suggested to him that it might be better to lie to investigators and withhold the documents altogether.... Mr. Corcoran, who was recommended for the team by Mr. Trump's legal adviser Boris Epshteyn, could potentially be a key witness if the case goes to trial." ~~~
~~~ Josh Dawsey & Jacqueline Alemany of the Washington Post: "The 37-count federal indictment of ... Donald Trump ... is based on information from a coterie of close aides, household staffers and lawyers hired to serve Trump in his post-presidency.... A secretary identified in the indictment as 'Trump Employee 2' -- told prosecutors that Trump himself had been packing and looking through boxes, contrary to assertions from his own lawyers. A young political aide, referred to as 'the PAC representative' in the indictment, told prosecutors that Trump showed him a classified map about a military operation in a foreign country and told him to stand back because it was a secret document. At a recent CNN town hall, Trump said he did not remember doing such a thing. Key parts of the indictment are based on one of his lawyer's detailed notes about Trump's wishing to obstruct justice by not responding to a subpoena -- contradicting the 45th president's claims that he was always cooperative with the Justice Department and the National Archives and Records Administration.... Interviews [of dozens of staffers] gave [special counsel Jack] Smith a close-up look at how Trump had structured his unorthodox post-presidential life -- and made Trump and his advisers deeply angry and uncomfortable...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Whataboutism for Dummies. Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "... the Trump indictment itself helps explain the difference between his case and other high-profile probes, like those of Hillary Clinton, President Biden and former vice president Mike Pence -- not for what it charges, but for what it doesn't.... Notably..., the indictment does not charge Trump with the illegal retention of any of the 197 [classified] documents he returned to the archives.... While [Clinton's] email chains discussed classified topics, they were not classified documents in the traditional sense, with extensive markings and acronyms.... It has long been standard practice in the federal government for officials to review their own correspondence in response to Freedom of Information Act requests and decide which of their emails are personal and therefore not turned over. In Clinton's case, her lawyers did that for her.... Robert Kelner, a veteran D.C. attorney[, said,]. 'The key difference is that in the Hillary Clinton case, as we learned from the Department of Justice inspector general report, there was no evidence that Hillary Clinton sought to obstruct justice.'... The indictment offers anecdote after alleged anecdote charging that the former president sought to hide and keep some of the classified papers....
Biden's lawyers say they have cooperated at every step of the investigation and readily returned all classified materials found in the office and the Wilmington house.... The Pence case also points to the key distinction in the national security probes involving presidents, former top officials or presidential candidates -- that it is not so much what is taken, but what is kept." A similar AP analysis is here and is worth reading. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Daniel Dale of CNN: "In the weeks before Donald Trump was indicted over his alleged mishandling of classified defense documents..., the former president kept arguing that it would be unfair to prosecute him given that President Joe Biden took '1,850 boxes' of documents to the University of Delaware.... But Trump's vague insinuations that there is something improper about the existence of the Biden collection at the University of Delaware are baseless. The collection of donated documents is from Biden's 36-year tenure as a US senator for Delaware. Unlike presidents, who are subject to the Presidential Records Act, senators own their offices' documents and can do whatever they want with them.... Trump has also made false specific claims about the boxes of Biden's Senate documents. It is not true that 'nobody even knows where they are.'... It is also not true that Biden 'has been totally uncooperative' and 'won't show the documents under any circumstances.' Biden consented to two FBI searches at the university -- searches that did not initially appear to turn up any documents with classified markings, a source ... [said] in February, though they were still being analyzed at the time." Emphasis added. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
David Rohde, et al., of NBC News: "Aileen Cannon..., a former prosecutor [who will oversee the Trump federal case], is the same Trump appointee who repeatedly ruled in his favor in a related case. She will now oversee a trial that experts believe could influence the American public's trust in the fairness of the court system for years to come. Cannon will guide how quickly the case goes to trial, oversee the selection of jurors and determine what evidence can be presented to the jury.... Trump's lawyers ... will likely ask Cannon to block prosecutors from presenting evidence from [Trump lawyer Evan] Corcoran to the trial jury. If Cannon agrees that the jury should not hear all of the Corcoran evidence, the Justice Department's case won't be over, but it will be critically hobbled.... Brandon Van Grack, a former Justice Department national security prosecutor and a lead prosecutor in the Mueller investigation, noted that the use of classified documents involves a separate discovery and litigation process, under the Classified Information Processing Act, or CIPA.... 'This process takes time and will be unfamiliar to the judge.'"
Shayna Jacobs, et al., of the Washington Post: "Federal and local authorities on Sunday amped up security preparations ahead of Donald Trump's first appearance in federal court on criminal charges here, monitoring online threats and potential gatherings of far-right extremists while marshaling more police officers to be on duty. Escalating violent rhetoric in online forums, coupled with defiant statements from the former president and his political allies, have put law enforcement officials on alert for potential disruptions ahead of Trump's court appearance.... Trump, during a radio interview with longtime adviser Roger Stone on Sunday afternoon, repeated his call for protests.... Authorities were monitoring plans for pro-Trump rallies in Miami, including one outside the federal courthouse on Tuesday purportedly organized by a local chapter of the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group...." Failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who on Saturday told Georgia Republicans, "We're at war, people -- we're at war," plans to lead a rally for Trump Monday night at a Palm Beach hotel.
Stephanie Mencimer of Mother Jones: "Former attorney general Bill Barr said Sunday morning that he believed that Donald Trump is in real trouble with the latest indictment against him for mishandling classified documents. 'I was shocked by the degree of sensitivity of these documents and how many there were, frankly,' Barr told Fox News' Shannon Bream. 'If even half of it is true, he's toast. It is a very detailed indictment and it's very, very damning.' Barr noted that despite Trump's insistence that the prosecution is a politically motivated witch hunt, 'I think the counts under the Espionage Act ... are solid counts.'" ~~~
~~~ Lauren Sforza of the Hill: "Former Attorney General Bill Barr called arguments being made by Republicans attempting to compare former President Trump's handling of classified documents to previous presidents 'big lies.'... 'So, there are two big lies, I think, that are out there right now,' Barr said [on 'Fox News Sunday.'] 'One is all these other presidents took all these documents. Those were situations where the arranged with the archives to set up special space under the management, control, and security provided by the archivists to temporarily put documents until the libraries were ready. These were not people just putting them in their basement, OK.' The second lie, according to Barr, is the notion that a president has 'complete authority' to declare any document 'personal.'... Some of the documents ... clearly could not be marked as personal. The summary includes some of the nation's most sensitive information." At the end of Sunday's Comments, Nisky Guy writes an addendum to Barr's remarks, which Charming Billy should not have left unsaid. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Kelly Garrity of CNN: "The president of the United States, 'can classify and he can control access to national security information however he wants,' Rep. Jim Jordan (Arrr-Ohio) said Sunday in defense of ... Donald Trump.&" MB: I watched a portion of Jordan's supposed defense of Trump, and if his is the best defense Trump has, Judge Aileen is going to have her hands full trying to get Trump off. Dana Bash was having none of Jordan's rapid-fire bull, and he quickly landed on the "But Hillary" retort. That won't work in court. Except Aileen.
Presidential Race 2024. David Firestone of the New York Times: In "many ways, [Ron] DeSantis has tried make a mockery of [campaign finance] laws. If you want a preview of how Mr. DeSantis views the government's limits on power and plutocracy -- as feeble as they are already -- there's no better place to look than his campaign.... Mr. DeSantis is hardly the only politician in the race who has demonstrated contempt for basic ethics and campaign finance laws. Donald Trump has funneled money from his leadership PAC to his super PAC, a different kind of abuse that has also drawn a complaint before the F.E.C. But Mr. DeSantis's actions are pathbreaking in an unusually wanton and disdainful way." ~~~
~~~ Ezra Klein of the New York Times: "As I read through [Ron DeSantis's book], I started marking down every time he told a story about using the power of his office to punish or sideline a perceived enemy or obstacle.... Then there's what DeSantis wants to do, but hasn't yet done.... DeSantis is trying to show, in vignette after vignette, that he has both the will and the discipline to do what Trump did not.... The Trump that emerges in DeSantis's anecdotes is ... a faintly comic figure ... overmatched by the details and minutiae of government.... DeSantis is portraying himself as the figure liberals have long feared: a Donald Trump who plans, a Donald Trump who follows through.... A lot can happen from here, and DeSantis has proved himself nothing if not a capable opportunist."
Beyond the Beltway
Pennsylvania. Justin George & Mary Molloy of the Washington Post: "An overpass on Interstate 95 that collapsed in North Philadelphia on Sunday will take months to replace, officials said, snarling a bustling East Coast corridor during the summer travel season and severing a main commercial artery for the city. Standing before the wreckage of what he called 'remarkable devastation, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and other officials warned motorists to expect detours and embrace public transit for an unknown period as the highway is rebuilt." Reuters has a story here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Pennsylvania can do better. When a hurricane washed out thousands of feet of a viaduct on I-10 in North Florida, some government entity made it passable within 10 days. I don't know if then-Florida-Gov. Jeb Bush or FEMA or the U.S. Transportation Department or who-all was responsible for the temporary repairs, but it was a near-miraculous response to a crisis.
Way Beyond
India. Sameer Yasir, et al., of the New York Times: "In India's worst railway disaster in decades, nearly all of the 288 dead were in three crowded cars where passengers stand for long stretches. It was these packed general coaches, right behind the engine of the Coromandel Express, that became a scene of unthinkable carnage just after sunset on June 2 when the train smashed into a parked freight train at 80 miles per hour in eastern India. Almost all of the 288 dead were in those three cars at the front of the train -- a fact, confirmed by officials, that has gone almost unnoticed in India. Unlike the 1,200 people in reserved seats, those in the general coaches were officially nameless; the rail service had no record of their identities.... The railway calamity has once again highlighted how unevenly the burden of India's inadequate infrastructure falls on the poor."
Italy. Jason Horowitz & Rachel Donadio of the New York Times: "Silvio Berlusconi, the brash media mogul who revolutionized Italian television with privately owned channels that he used to become the country's most polarizing and prosecuted prime minister over multiple stints in office and an often scandalous quarter-century of political and cultural influence, died on Monday at San Raffaele hospital in Milan. He was 86." The Guardian's obituary of Berlusconi is here.
Scotland. Stephen Castle of the New York Times: "Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's former first minister and once one of Britain's most prominent politicians, was arrested on Sunday by police officers investigating the finances of the Scottish National Party, which dominates the country's politics and which she led until her unexpected resignation in February. The news deepens the crisis engulfing the Scottish National Party, or S.N.P., delivering a new blow to its campaign for Scottish independence after the arrests of Ms. Sturgeon's husband, Peter Murrell, the party's former chief executive, and then of Colin Beattie, its former treasurer, in April. Both men were released after questioning and without being charged with any offense. In a statement issued late Sunday afternoon, Police Scotland said that Ms. Sturgeon had also 'been released without charge pending further investigation' and, swiftly after that announcement, the former first minister proclaimed her innocence." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The Guardian's story is here.
Ukraine, et al.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Monday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Monday is here: "Ukraine has liberated the villages of Makarivka, Blahodatne in the Donetsk region, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on Telegram, marking what may be the country's first gains in its long-anticipated counteroffensive.... The territorial gain by Ukraine was confirmed by the Institute for the Study of War in an analysis noting that this was not yet a 'breakthrough.'... Russian forces fired on boats evacuating civilians in the flooded Kherson region, killing three people and injuring 10, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram. Three boats carrying 21 people, most of them elderly, were leaving the Russian-occupied area across the Dnieper River at the time of the attack, he added.... One-third of nearly 63,000 bomb shelters surveyed by Ukrainian authorities are either shut down or unusable, the country's emergency services department said on Facebook." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Killing elderly civilians trying to flee a flood -- which the Russians themselves caused -- in open boats? That's a war crime.
Travis Pennington, et al., of CNN: "The US State Department has confirmed the arrest of American citizen Travis Leake in Russia and said US embassy officials attended his arraignment Saturday. Moscow's courts of general jurisdiction earlier released a statement on the social media app Telegram saying a US citizen had been detained on drugs charges. Leake was detained on Saturday where 'the Khamovniki District Court of Moscow took a preventive measure against an American citizen,' it said.... 'The former paratrooper and musician is accused of engaging in the narcotics business through attracting young people,' the statement said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
News Lede
AP: "The driver of a tractor-trailer hauling gasoline lost control on an off-ramp and flipped the tanker truck on its side in a wreck that set it afire and destroyed a section of the East Coast's main north-south highway, Pennsylvania's top transportation official said Monday. In the first official accounting of a wreck that threw hundreds of thousands of morning commutes into chaos and disrupted untold numbers of businesses, state Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll said the driver was northbound 'trying to navigate the curve, lost control of the vehicle, landed on its side and ruptured the tank.'... Pennsylvania State Police said a body recovered from the wreckage has been turned over to the Philadelphia medical examiner and coroner. Authorities are in the process of identifying the remains, police said."
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Reader Comments (15)
I have no doubt that this Trumpette judge, Aileen Cannon, will make every attempt to deflect, diminish, delay, and outright destroy the prosecution’s case against her boss/benefactor. Were it to come out that Cannon was huddling with Fatty’s mouthpieces I wouldn’t be a bit surprised.
But here’s what I’m thinking. At this point, Cannon probably knows a multitude of ways to fuck with a case that are not appealable. But trying to keep Corcoran from testifying might be tricky, and could be illegal, and therefore something that could very well become the basis for a successful appeal of she goes through with it.
Attorney-client privilege can be pierced, but only if if the attorney and said client were talking about, considering, planning something illegal. Discussions with your legal team about ways to get away with a crime are not protected by attorney-client privilege.
What good would Corcoran’s testimony be if he was never privy to Trump’s plans to obstruct justice, to lie to DoJ people, and find a way to hang on to top secret classified documents?
Mr. Corcoran…what did you talk about with your client?
Oh…we talked about the weather, golf, T&A, you know, the usual.
What good would that be? But discussing ways to stiff the Justice Department? That’s case-making stuff. Privilege is right out. And if Corcoran’s notes turn out to be Trump Killers, then he must have been listening to ideas for more Fatty criming.
None of that means Cannon won’t still try to block testimony proving fatal to Fatty’s defense. She might figure “Fine. Let ‘em appeal my decision. That will go to trial sometime around 2028.”
As it always seems to be the case, Trump may once again escape justice (and Justice). But at least there’s a chance.
I hope.
Build the wall! Build the wall!
But not on the Texas border. Let's build it on the Florida border.
Keep those gun totin', no permits, Trump rioting supporters in Fla.
Trump and Roger Stone. Now there's a pair to draw to.
Two asses, sorry, I meant Aces.
New photo of document storage at Mar-a-Lago.
Who's that behind curtain #1. Notice also that boxes show stacked
up in the shower behind the curtain.
https://democraticunderground.com/100217994169
Here's a bit of an exchange between Isaac Chotiner (New Yqrker) and Stephen Gillers --professor at NYU law:
"Ok Going forward, what can the government do if it feels like a judge will not give it a fair shake?" IC
'It raises the question of recusal. There’s a statute dealing with federal judge recusal—it’s 28 U.S.C. § 455, and you should look at paragraph A. It’s the very first sentence, and that’s the most frequently cited sentence in motions to recuse. It says that a judge should recuse if the judge’s impartiality “might reasonably be questioned...
Now, the fact that a judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned doesn’t mean that the judge is partial. The public may simply not trust the impartiality of the judge. Because public trust in the work of the court is a value as important as the work itself, the rule says that the judge should not sit when we can’t fairly ask the public to trust what the judge does. That rule is especially important in this case. One thing the prosecution can do is move to recuse Judge Cannon on the ground that, in light of her experience in the search-warrant case last year, her impartiality might reasonably be questioned."SG
"And who would make that judgment if the government does push for this recusal?" IC
The judge herself gets to make that decision in our system. If she denies the recusal, the government could go to the Eleventh Circuit and ask it to order her to recuse herself, and that’s a process called mandamus. Technically, it’s not an appeal. In effect, you’re suing the judge to force the judge to recuse. Mandamus efforts are rarely successful." SG
My hope is that her judgeship will care about her reputation and recuse herself but that's pie in the sky hope and in Trump territory those skies be the limits!
@P.D.Pepe: Yeah, you're 40-something, you've spent most of your life and your entire career trying to climb higher up the ladder, and you've been remarkably successful. Suddenly, you are given the opportunity to preside over the biggest case of the century and become a hero to millions of MAGA Americans. Hey, maybe a Supreme Court nomination will follow.
So do you (1) recuse yourself because you know you're biased and the Appeals Court said you were an idiot, or (2) do what it takes to become a national MAGA hero & maybe Trump puts you on the Supreme Court in gratitude? I think I know the answer.
The fact is that Cannon was appointed specifically to serve as a rubber stamp stooge for traitor causes. She should never have been confirmed in the first place given her frightening lack of experience. But as we all know, lack of experience, ignorance, professional incompetence do not discount a far right-wing candidate, rather they comprise a full throated recommendation of that person.
The primary quality desired by the Party of Traitors is and always has been: will they toe the line and help us achieve our ideological and demagogical goals, regardless of laws, ethics, precedence, and morality?
If you saw that definition of “Ideal Traitor Candidate” in the dictionary, Aileen Cannon’s picture would be next to that entry.
At the end of the day we need to heed the words of our esteemed past president who always gave us such pithy pronouncements:
"When I was coming up," Bush told a crowd in Council Bluff , Iowa, "It was a dangerous time and we knew exactly who the "they" were. It was us versus them and it was clear who 'them' was. Today we're not so sure who the they are but we know they're there."
You betcha Bush! would you, could you, please tell us today who the "they" is? Looks to me you belong to the tribe of thems that "they" is?
The right wing should take note: George Soros hands control of his empire to his son Alex, 37, who says "I am a lot more political than my father."
Listening to John Kasich whine about how the "poor misunderstood" ordinary voter will always pick a rich SOB rather than an "elite"-- it's like he says that money is what these two beings have in common, and when you balance the fact that the rich SOB "understands" the ordinary voter (how, in gods' names??) and the elite is just too damn educated, it seems that the ordinary Joes and Janes don't have a clue who or what anyone is. (How does anyone campaign in atmosphere like this??) Plus, Kasich is a disappointed elite himself, so I doubt if anything he supposedly opines is worth the light shining on him during the teevee interview...I will never be sympathetic to the morons in silly getups and waving flags. I resent the hijacking of the flag by the idiots too-- it has ruined me for red, white and blue apparel on July 4th--
I am with Marie on the resumed videos of anywhere the crackpot former chief executive goes. Muting again and looking elsewhere instead of at his stupid plane people think is still Air Force One... Ugh-- I despise him and his apparent power. But you knew that--
Think we've seen the last of (at least) Thiessen, Hewitt, and Olsen in the WAPO?
Hired liars, all.
Rules for Anarchists
In a piece linked above, one finds this encapsulated, freeze-dried, undiluted, Hall of Fame casuistry, 180 proof bullshit:
“As far as the issue of her recusal, Weissmann noted that Cannon's most ‘troubling’ remark in her rulings was that Trump should receive special deference because he was a former POTUS*.”
The inference being that equal justice should not apply if the Fat Fascist is in trouble with the law.
How much will you bet me that were Cannon overseeing a case involving Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, or Joe Biden, she’d be all “Rule of law, motherfucker! No special treatment!”
Sorry, kids. Since none of youse is Bill Gates or Harlan Crow, you ain’t got enough juice to cover that bet.
But here’s the thing. The very real likelihood of a Cannon Clown Show serves an existential goal of the current iteration of the Party of Traitors, and that is that no government agency or department can be trusted. Not by Jack and Mary MAGA sucking down the Kool-aid by the imperial gallon in their favorite Mississippi coffee shop, or by the sainted martyr, TFG.
If Cannon is prevented from placing a lead infused cinder block on the scales of justice to assist the Fat Traitor, this will be taken as proof positive by the agents of chaos, whipped daily into a violent frenzy by GOP “leaders” like Gym and MTG, that justice itself has been weaponized against them and Trump and Jesus. In that order.
But wasn’t this the goal that Republicans have sought for years, hobbling the FBI, DoJ, even the IRS, any agency that could stand between them and complete chaos impelled control?
The problem, for them, as we all saw during the attempted Trump coup, is that chaos in anathema to control. You bust the dam, and everyone gets wet.
Rules for Anarchists is a fantasy.
MSNBC’s Mehdi Hassan, in today’s podcast, does yeoman’s work in pointing up the eye popping hypocrisy of the Usual Suspects now bemoaning the indictment of the most criminal traitor to ever have greased his slide into the White House with help from an antagonistic foreign power and a submissive, soporific press.
Back in 2016, the heyday of “Lock her up”, revelations about Hillary Clinton’s email server created a complete Republican Brain Aneurysm. “Holy shit! Treason! Lock her up!” “Putting troops in danger!” “Aieeeeeee!!!!”
Now…recognize that Clinton’s server situation is to Trump’s Marred-a-Lardo Bathroom Reading Room of Top Secrets as a match is to a million acre forest fire.
Talking about the Fatty Fire, they all—to a liar—say “OMG! Not guilty!! Biden overreach! Weaponization!!!”
The problem for thinking Americans is that MAGAts accept that the match was horrible but that the million acre fire is a damnable lie.
The much more dangerous problem is that these fucking morons vote. Sometimes more than once in the same election.
@Akhilleus: If you look through the charges against Trump, there's one thing that's notably missing: any charge for retention of documents. Both Biden & pence apparently retained classified documents in non-secure places -- though in their cases, the retention was likely inadvertent, and it also is likely it was staff who stuffed the classified docs into boxes, not Biden or pence. Biden's case is still open, but I doubt he will be charged. pence's case has been closed with no charges. (And no remarks from the FBI director about how careless he was!)
I'm not sure Hillary actually retained any documents; what she did was write about classified matters and receive classified information on a non-government server. This was careless, IMO, and she did it for the same reason Trump stole documents, stored them in the shower, played hide-and-seek with the FBI and criminalized his low-level employees in an effort to keep the FBI from retrieving the documents. That reason was hubris: both she and Trump figured they were so important they didn't have to follow bureaucratic practices.
BUT. Unlike Trump -- Clinton, Biden & pence did not obstruct the FBI. Unlike Trump, they did not, as far as we know, lie about having returned all the documents. And unlike Trump they cooperated with authorities.
Then there was Colin Powell.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/08/colin-powell-hillary-clinton-email-state-department
For some reason, the R's didn't hang him up by his thumbs...
@Ken Winkes: Thanks. I forgot about that.