4 factors that guide prosecutions for mishandling classified documents

Zoom in: As the FBI has laid out, previous cases prosecuted involved some combination of the following four factors:

1. Clearly intentional and willful mishandling of classified information.
2. Vast quantities of materials exposed in such a way as to support an inference of intentional misconduct.
3. Disloyalty to the United States.
4. Efforts to obstruct the investigation.

Between the lines: If the Biden documents investigation doesn't meet that bar, it could result in disciplinary action handled at the administrative level.

• That could include loss of security clearance for an individual or an annotation in an employee's records that makes it harder to receive clearance.

The bottom line: There’s a universe of fewer than two dozen aides who worked in then-vice president Biden’s official office during the Obama administration.

• A few, including assistant Kathy Chung, have already been interviewed by federal authorities, NBC reported.