“Why take physical evidence of law breaking? Spies have been using cameras since photography was invented...”
Which is why you wouldn’t want to use a camera. Because then you no longer have plausible deniability.
Take the docs and you can just say “oops I forgot I brought some homework home and forgot to bring it back”. Sure, it’s still a crime, but not a crime you will get prosecuted for if you are a Democrat. Start snapping pics on a camera and you are getting charged not just with mishandling documents but with espionage.
Yeah, but everything is digitized anyway the past ten years. Just have a staffer do the regular scanning process for records retention. It’s a normal business process in every company. No need for a clandestine camera spy op.
There’s your “plausible deniability.” And you could make the same argument: “Oops, I brought those digital docs with me to study and forgot to destroy them.”