That makes no sense. First, he would have to know exactly what he had and where they were. I tend to doubt that. It is most likely carelessness that led to them being mixed in with personal documents. If that is the case he would only be aware of them as they come up. The fact they are searching for more and have done nothing to obstruct it indicates cooperation.
The metric you are attempting to use for cooperation becomes a Catch 22.
First off, there is no criminal involved here nor yet any crime, unless you know of charges that no one else does. Theft
requires intent, as in intentionally stealing and retaining stolen goods. That too has not been proven. Your comparison ends up being a false equivalency.
www.law.cornell.edu
Theft is the taking of another person’s
personal property with
the intent of depriving that person of the use of their property.
It is so bizarre that you are willing to completely absolve someone, who played with our national security recklessly, with those kind of fraudulent excuses.
Both the President and the Vice President have the authority to access and remove classified documents.
Both the President and the Vice President have the authority to classify and declassify documents.
Source:
Executive Order 13526- Classified National Security Information
Trump mixed classified documents with personal material.
Source:
A detailed inventory of the items recovered in the Mar-a-Lago raid shows that Trump kept classified documents mixed in with personal items like clothes and magazines
Trump stored them in an improperly secured storeroom and in his personal office, strewn about carelessly.
The differences you are trying to draw to prove “intent” can easily apply to both men.
Also applicable to BOTH men is that once they left office, the documents no longer belonged to them, they belonged to the American people in the form of NARA.