Why the Trump-Biden classified documents aren't 'apples and oranges'

The unauthorized retention of classified materials by President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump is of significant concern for a simple reason. To understand why, consider how intelligence information would be classified under some hypothetical scenarios.

Had the National Security Agency or a closely allied counterpart service intruded into Iranian military networks and gained near real-time access to military orders, the ensuing intelligence reports would be classified with one or more Top Secret-Sensitive Compartmented Information control caveats (TS-SCI). The U.S. wouldn't want unauthorized persons to know that it knew, and how it knew, what Iranian forces were about to do.