If there is some dispute as to whether the documents were still classified , then the prudent thing to do is to treat them as such. They should be stored in an inner wrapper marked appropriately. That is then stored in another wrapper with tape on the outside to show that the package has not been opened until it gets to its destination. The tape was probably simple reinforced shipping tape.
“ If there is some dispute as to whether the documents were still classified , then the prudent thing to do is to treat them as such”
If they did that then they couldn’t selectively leak things that may sound bad out of context that the media