Former Vice President Mike Pence is having to face the music, too. His team found classified documents in his Indiana home in January according to a letter that informed Congress on Tuesday.
The former vice president’s team contacted the acting director of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) on Jan 18. They requested assistance in collecting and transferring what the letter said was a “small number” of classified documents with classification markings.
“Vice President Pence was unaware of the existence of sensitive or classified documents at his personal residence. 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,” the letter read.
Pence invited outside counsel to look at documents in his home after there were reports that President Biden’s lawyers found classified documents in a think tank office bearing Biden’s name and in his Delaware home.
Pence’s team said that they did not look inside the documents that were marked as classified, so they don’t know their contents of them. They were immediately placed in a safe when they were found.
The Department of Justice sent FBI agents to retrieve the documents on January 19 when Pence was attending the March for Life event in Washington, D.C.
Pence’s team did say that having the FBI directly collect the documents “bypassed standard procedure,” and that Pence had agreed to give them to the NARA directly.
Pence had criticized Biden for his handling of classified documents before documents were found in his home, saying he welcomes “the decision by Attorney General Garland to appoint a special counsel” to investigate Biden.
Pence previously denied having any classified documents in his possession and criticized President Biden for the way he handled classified documents.
Now, he is eating some political crow.
