Former Vice President Mike Pence is the latest to come under fire over classified documents found in the Republican's home in Indiana.
The situation has added a new chapter to the Donald Trump scandal over individuals who hold high positions in office were found to have taken classified documents outside of the White House. The lawyer Pence made the latest discovery.
Handling of Classified Documents
It comes as special counsels are looking at the handling of classified documents by United States President Joe Biden and former President Trump. The latter faces a criminal investigation for allegedly mishandling files found at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
A letter was sent by representatives for the former vice president to the National Archives, notifying them about the classified documents. Then, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) came to Pence's home to collect the documents without going through "standard procedures" and requesting "direct possession" of them.
Under the Presidential Records Act, White House records are required to go to the National Archives after an administration ends. Furthermore, regulations mandate that such documents must be stored securely, as per BBC.
In a letter shared with US media, Pence's lawyer said that several documents with classified markings were "inadvertently boxed and transported" to his Indiana residence at the end of Trump's presidency.
The latest discovery came after the former vice president sought legal assistance from specialists in handling classified documents due to an abundance of caution. The letter read that Pence asked the lawyers for help after the public found out about documents stored at Biden's Wilmington residence.
The legal experts noted that a small number of documents that potentially contained sensitive or classified information were found inside a locked safe in Pence's residence. After the letter was made public, the former president immediately came to the defense, posting on his Truth Social media platform that a former vice president is an innocent man.
Mike Pence Cooperates With Law Enforcement
Pence's legal team on Monday drove the boxes containing the classified documents back to Washington, DC, and handed them over to the National Archives for review. According to CNN, the representative for the National Archives, Greg Jacob, said that Pence was unaware of the documents at his residence.
Officials also searched Pence's Washington, DC advocacy group office for potentially classified documents, but no sensitive material or other record was found. The situation comes as the former vice president is allegedly preparing for a potential 2024 presidential campaign.
Before the discovery of the documents in Indiana, Pence, in an interview in August last year, was asked whether he retained any classified material upon leaving office. The former vice president answered, "No, not to my knowledge."
The situation also underscores the mounting pressure that Biden has faced in the last few days over the classified documents found at several residences. However, unlike former President Trump, Biden and Pence were willing to cooperate with law enforcement to handle and return the sensitive materials to the National Archives, said the Washington Post.
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