Classified Documents Found At Mike Pence’s Home

Topline

Several records marked classified were found at former Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana home last week, according to multiple reports, in a search prompted by the discovery of sensitive documents at President Joe Biden’s private residence.

Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks during the New York Times DealBook Summit in the Appel Room … [+] at the Jazz At Lincoln Center on November 30, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

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Key Facts

The Justice Department and FBI are actively reviewing how the documents came to be at Pence’s home, according to CNN, citing multiple people familiar with knowledge of the matter.

An attorney for Pence found the records at Pence’s new home in Carmel, Indiana, which he purchased for nearly $2 million after leaving the White House in 2021.

It’s not clear what the contents of the records are or their classification level.

Pence’s attorney said he immediately alerted the National Archives, telling them Pence was “unaware of the existence of the records,” and the Archives has since referred the matter to the Justice Department.

The documents were stored in boxes at Pence’s temporary home in Virginia before they were moved to Indiana and placed in an unsecured area, according to CNN.

The Justice Department and a representative for Pence did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Forbes.

Crucial Quote

“Possessing classified documents in an unprotected area is not proper,” Pence said in a Meet the Press interview in November.

Key Background

Both Biden and former President Donald Trump are facing special counsel probes over potentially mishandling classified documents. Biden’s legal team recently found at least three tranches of records marked classified dating to the Obama Administration—two at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, and another at his former private office at a D.C.-based think tank. The White House insists it is cooperating with the investigation and says the records were swiftly handed over to authorities after they were found. Trump’s documents, meanwhile, were recovered in an hours-long FBI raid at Mar-A-Lago in August, after prosecutors said the former president went months dodging a subpoena legally requiring him to turn over the documents. Trump and Biden have both denied any wrongdoing, even though the Presidential Records Act requires presidents and their administrations to turn over sensitive records when a president leaves office.

Tangent

Pence has suggested it was wrong for Trump to allegedly retain classified records, but he has distanced himself from the FBI raid, claiming it was approved due to “partisanship” by the Justice Department. Like many Republicans, Pence has alleged a “double standard” from the Justice Department in how the Trump and Biden’s probes are being handled, despite the differences between the two cases. Attorney General Merrick Garland dismissed those concerns Monday, saying, “We do not have different rules for Democrats or Republicans.”

Surprising Fact

Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, shortly after news broke about the find at Pence’s home to make the apparently sarcastic remark: “Mike Pence is an innocent man. He never did anything knowingly dishonest in his life. Leave him alone!!!”