I can say they returned the documents....because they returned the documents. Pence notified them that such documents had been found, invited the FBI in to search for more....and let them take any government documents they found.
The FBI has discovered an additional document with classified markings at former Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana home.
apnews.com
And Pence wasn't charged.
The Justice Department's national security division, which looked into the discovery of classified documents at the former vice president's Indiana home, informed his attorney that no charges will be filed.
www.nbcnews.com
Pence cooperated fully, notified the authorities and the documents were returned within days. No charges. There's no 'willful retention' of docs that you willingly give back.
Trump dicked around for a year and half, lied about having docs, tried to conspire with his attorney to hide the docs, compelled his lawyer to lie to authorities about docs, and did conspire with Nauta to hide docs from authorities per the indictment. And it took a warrant and a raid to secure the documents, as Trump refused to return them.
Neither Pence nor Biden did any of that. They immediately cooperated.
There's no evidence that either Pence or Biden knew they had these docs. And when they found them, they turned them over to authorities as quickly as they could. It was both Pence and Biden that notified authorities of the exitsence of the docs.
No raid was necessary. No search warrant was necessary. There's no 'willful retention' in notifying authorities of docs and fully cooperating with authorities.
Trump in contrast absoutely knew he had them, as NARA had specifically requested them. Per the indictment, Trump had conspired to hide them, tried to get his lawyer in on the plot (the lawyer refused), and showed them off people. Authorties during the raid found many of the docs
in a box next to Trump's desk.
And Trump was never charged for ANY of the docs he actually returned. Only for those he kept, refused to return, and lied about.
If he'd done what Biden and Pence did.....there would be no charges.