Federal court records portray a sloppy system for tracking the country's most important secrets, amid a controversy over classified documents involving President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence.

Stashes of secret documents have been scattered through homes, sheds and cars of intelligence agency staffers and contractors. Yet, penalties for mishandling documents vary greatly.

Here's what else is happening in politics:

• The blame game: The White House is blaming the Trump administration and the GOP for undoing Obama-era rail safety measures designed to avert disasters like the toxic East Palestine, Ohio train derailment.

• Debt limit standoff: Former Vice President Mike Pence said cuts to Social Security and Medicare may need to be considered at some point amid debt ceiling talks.

• Ideological tilt at stake: Wisconsin voters decided on two candidates to advance to a general election for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, a key race that could decide the future of policies in the battleground state.

• "The revolution had failed": Prosecutors allege that the Proud Boys, fueled by desperation to keep Donald Trump in the White House, conspired to stop the certification of the 2020 election.

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Tim Scott inches toward 2024 run

As U.S. Sen. Tim Scott inches closer to an expected 2024 presidential run, he called for a revival of American hope through conservative ideals in a pair of Iowa speeches Wednesday.

Scott called for “trusting each other, overcoming our differences and then creating converts to conservatism” – a subtle nod to the fact that Republican presidential candidates have not won the popular vote since 2004, even as Donald Trump carried the Electoral College in 2016.

It comes on the heels of a midterm election that left Republicans across the country disappointed in their performance, with many blaming the former president for elevating fringe candidates who alienated some Republican and independent voters.

-Brianne Pfannenstiel, Francesca Block; Des Moines Register

Ex-Arizona AG withheld reports that debunked 2020 election fraud claims

The Arizona Attorney General's Office concluded months ago there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election results in Maricopa County ― but the state's top prosecutor sat on the information and suppressed mitigating details, newly released records show.

An investigative report and two internal memos from 2022 indicate then-Attorney General Mark Brnovich was aware his investigators "did not uncover any criminality or fraud" in the 2020 election weeks before Brnovich reported the county's election system was vulnerable and the process for verification and handling of early ballots was broken.

The three documents were made public Wednesday by newly elected Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, who described them as "deeply unsettling and unacceptable." Brnovich, a Republican, did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.

-Robert Anglen, Arizona Republic

How federal workers got away with taking classified documents home

A software developer for the National Security Agency took home secret documents in a misguided effort to work more for a promotion. A civilian Defense Department worker who was studying at National Intelligence University copied and removed classified records for her thesis. A military contractor mailed home to Texas from Afghanistan entire laptops and hard drives filled with secrets.

These were federal criminal cases of federal workers or contractors convicted of mishandling classified documents before caches were found at the homes of President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence. In some cases, workers just hoarded documents.

Sloppy handling in some cases went on for decades, despite the secrets at stake being among the country’s most important. The names of undercover intelligence agents and descriptions of how the country gathers its information were included. Adm. Mike Rogers, then head of the National Security Agency, cited “very significant and long-lasting harm” because of uncertainty over whether secrets had been revealed to adversaries.

– Bart Jansen

Georgia Trump investigation: Foreperson media comments highly unusual

Public remarks by Georgia grand jury foreperson Emily Kohrs pierced a veil of secrecy into the investigation of 2020 election interference by Donald Trump.

Kohrs, in a series of media interviews, offered up provocative details about key witnesses and charging recommendations potentially involving a dozen or so people.

Legal analysts said Kohrs’ public comments were at a minimum highly unusual for any grand jury inquiry and, at most, not particularly helpful to any potential case the district attorney may bring.

“I’m not aware of any other case in Georgia in which a grand juror has spoken with the media about witnesses appearing before the grand jury,” said Clark Cunningham, a Georgia State University law professor who has closely followed the investigation.

– Kevin Johnson

More: Georgia grand jury foreperson's public comments add unusual wrinkle

Biden calls Putin’s suspension of nuclear arms treaty a 'big mistake’

Russia’s suspension of a nuclear arms treaty is a “big mistake,” President Joe Biden said Wednesday, as the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion approaches.

Biden made the brief comment to reporters as he entered the presidential palace in Warsaw where he is meeting with leaders from nations on the eastern edge of the NATO alliance.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Tuesday he is suspending Moscow’s participation in New START, a strategic nuclear arms reduction treaty, the last remaining nuclear arms reduction deal between the U.S. and Russia. It limits each side to 1,550 long-range nuclear warheads.

– Maureen Groppe

More: What is the nuclear arms treaty?

A new record of women will serve in Congress

A historic number of women will serve in the 118th Congress once congresswoman-elect Jennifer McClellan, D-Va., is sworn in to office.

A total of 150 women will serve in Congress, surpassing the previous record set at the swearing-in of the 118th Congress last month, according to Rutgers University’s Center for American Women and Politics. Additionally, 125 women, 92 Democratic women and 28 Black women will serve in the House – new records for each category.

McClellan’s special election victory Tuesday also made her Virginia’s first Black female member of Congress.

– Mabinty Quarshie

More: McClellan just won election to Congress. Black women say it's not enough

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Updates: Beyond Biden, Trump and Pence, how others took documents home