In regards to the 85p ONLY: it’s difficult to establish intent for a material falsification case on the non-disclosure of a dismissed/expunged record. The government has to prove that the applicant intended to deceive - not only is that hard to prove when the applicant went through the expungement process on a dismissed charge but now couple that with the fact that the applicant can claim advice of counsel as a defense and the fact that the 86 explicitly asks for expunged records; whereas the 85p does not. As I said before, one can reasonable conclude, based on the difference in the wording on the forms that the 86 wants expunged records and that the 85p does not. I’ve read a couple cases where an administrative judge tossed potential revocations on these grounds ( I’ll link if you guys want, hard to do on cell at the moment).
As for the 86, that form directly states to include expunged records. No defending a non-disclosure of an expunged record there…
On a side note, when discussing this with a professional contact of mine (contract investigator), he told me that expunged records are not used when considering suitability or clearance. This guy has been in the business a while and has no reason to lie to me so I trust his statement…
Regardless, to anyone reading this that is going through a suitability/clearance investigation or filling out the paper work - take @Marko ‘s advice and disclose it on both the 85p and 86. Odds are if it was expunged, that will be viewed as a good thing by an adjudicator and it will likely not even be developed as an issue.