Fox News’ Tucker Carlson is putting forth a theory as to why former Vice President Mike Pence’s lawyers looked for classified documents in his Indiana home.
The new documents with classified markings were discovered at Pence’s home and come months after he publicly stated he did not take classified documents from the White House.
And the contradiction raised some questions for Carlson.
“Mike Pence also had secret documents in his house, just like Joe Biden — bet you didn’t see that coming,” the host said on Tuesday night. “It wasn’t so long ago that Pence was on television saying he was sure he had no classified documents in his possession. He said that a few times. Then just days ago, Mike Pence sent his personal attorney to search his home in Carmel, Indiana, for classified documents.”
He then asked why the former vice president would search for classified documents if he did not believe he had such materials in his possession.
Carlson continued:
“We can’t say for certain. But it’s entirely possible, in fact, it’s likely that Mike Pence was asked to do this by federal prosecutors who are trying to build a case against his old boss Donald Trump. Now the point would be to show that not every federal official walks off with state secrets, Donald Trump was uniquely evil in that regard.”
Watch the video below:
Tucker Carlson starts off tonight by implying that Mike Pence and Joe Biden are in cahoots:
— Kat Abughazaleh (@KatAbughazaleh) January 25, 2023
"Pence didn't seem embarrassed about it at all. In fact, he almost bragged about it. So clearly Mike Pence isn't worried about being punished for keeping secret documents in his home." pic.twitter.com/tC4FmJbbzj
The host claimed if his theory was accurate, it “backfired spectacularly” because classified documents were discovered. And after their discovery, the National Archives and leaders in Congress were notified.
“But Pence didn’t seem embarrassed about it at all. In fact, he almost bragged about it,” he continued.
Finally, Carlson claimed, “So clearly, Mike pence is not worried about being punished for keeping secret documents in his home, and that’s strange in a country where all laws are supposed to apply equally to all people, but Mike Pence is not worried about FBI raids, and that’s interesting. Maybe someday we’ll learn why.”
His comments come as former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden are both facing special counsel investigations into their handling of classified documents.
In August, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate and recovered classified documents after a months-long effort to retrieve them.
And in November, Biden’s personal lawyers found classified documents from his time as vice president in an office at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, D.C. In the subsequent months, several more documents were discovered at Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware.
In those cases, the FBI reportedly did not search Biden’s home and office. Instead, his attorneys found the documents and turned them over to the government.
However, FBI investigators searched the president’s home on Friday and found more classified documents including from his time as a senator.
It may seem odd Pence asked his attorneys to look for classified documents after denying he took any. Perhaps he lied and knew there were classified documents there. Still, it’s possible he did not know they were there. And after witnessing the situation with Trump and Biden, maybe he figured it would be better to be safe than sorry and check. And it turns out there were documents there.
Either way, it’s conceivable the search was launched to make sure any classified documents were returned to show he would cooperate and was not intentionally trying to hide classified documents. It does not have to be part of some big effort to get Trump.
