Reporters Zeke Miller, Farnoush Amiri, Jill Colvin and Colleen Long quickly pivoted off the spot news that Mike Pence was the latest high-profile figure to have classified records in his possession after he left office to lay bare the broad scope of documents mishandling by top officials.
Their story contained new revelations showing even more extensive issues with classified documents than previously known, including how former President Jimmy Carter found classified materials at his home in Plains, Georgia, on at least one occasion and returned them to the National Archives.
AP’s story delivered news nuggets that other news organizations didn’t have, including tracing the issue back to Carter. The story was still in top metrics two days later and was cited in political newsletters and by a wide array of other news organizations.