Classified documents have been found at former US Vice-President Mike Pence’s home in the latest secret paper discovery. The documents, discovered by a lawyer last week for Mr Pence at his Indiana home, have been handed over to the FBI.
Special counsels are already looking at the handling of classified documents by President Joe Biden and ex-President Donald Trump. Mr Trump faces a criminal investigation for allegedly mishandling files. Representatives for Mr Pence sent a letter to the National Archives alerting them to the documents.
The FBI came to the former vice-president’s home to collect the documents, bypassing “standard procedures” and requesting “direct possession” of them, lawyers added in a separate letter. Under the Presidential Records Act, White House records are supposed to go to the National Archives once an administration ends. Regulations require such files to be stored securely.
A “small number of documents bearing classified markings” were “inadvertently boxed and transported” to Mr Pence’s home at the end of Donald Trump’s presidency, his lawyer wrote in a letter shared with US media. The latest development emerged after Mr Pence sought legal help from specialists in handling classified documents “out of an abundance of caution”.
He asked for help “after it became public that documents with classified markings were found in President Joe Biden’s Wilmington residence”, the letter read. Lawyers found “a small number of documents that could potentially contain sensitive or classified information” which were locked by the former vice-president in a safe. After the letter became public, Mr Trump quickly came to Mr Pence’s defence, taking to his Truth Social social media platform to say that he is “an innocent man”.
