Former vice president Mike Pence notified Congress Tuesday that he found classified documents from his tenure in the Trump administration in his Indiana home on January 16.
After multiple batches of classified records were discovered in President Biden’s possession, both at a Washington, D.C., think tank and at his Delaware property, Pence’s team searched his residence and the office of his political advocacy group, Advancing American Freedom. No classified documents were located at the latter.
An attorney for Pence uncovered about a dozen documents at his house and delivered them to the FBI, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told CNN. The FBI retrieved the documents from Pence’s home on Thursday night and is now examining the records alongside the Justice Department’s National Security Division. The agencies are trying to figure out how the papers were moved to Pence’s home.
On January 18, Pence informed the National Archives that he had come across two small boxes of what appeared to be potential classified materials. Two other boxes held copies of vice presidential records.
“Vice President Pence was unaware of the existence of sensitive or classified documents at his personal residence,” Pence’s representative to the Archives Greg Jacob wrote in a letter to the National Archives obtained by CNN. “Vice President Pence understands the high importance of protecting sensitive and classified information and stands ready and willing to cooperate fully with the National Archives and any appropriate inquiry.”
Pence requested that his lawyer scan his home for classified documents as a preemptive measure following Biden’s scandal.
On November 2, a set of classified records from Biden’s vice-presidential term were first found by Biden’s attorneys at the Penn Biden Center, which served as Biden’s private office from 2017 to 2019. The White House counsel’s office then searched Biden’s homes in Delaware last week and discovered two additional sets of secret papers. Attorney General Merrick Garland then appointed a special counsel — Robert K. Hur — to investigate Biden’s alleged mishandling of classified documents.
In a televised interview with ABC News in November, Pence assured viewers that he did not remove classified documents from the White House. The topic was the surprise raid on former president Trump’s Florida residence in August, a search which was conducted on the grounds that he allegedly mishandled government documents.
When host David Muir asked, “Did you take any classified documents with you from the white house?,” Pence replied, “I did not.”
“Do you see any reason for anyone to take classified docs from the White House?,” Muir followed up.
“There would be no reason to take classified documents particularly if they were in an unprotected area,” Pence said.