Pence Reportedly Informed Congress of Classified Documents Discovered at His Home
Former Vice President Mike Pence has reportedly informed Congress of classified documents discovered at his home.
Fox News reported Tuesday the former vice president told Congress the discovery occurred on January 16 at his Carmel, Indiana, home.
The classified documents were from his time as vice president, as the outlet reported.
Searches were conducted of Pence’s home in Indiana and the office of political advocacy group Advancing American Freedom upon recent discoveries of documents at President Joe Biden’s home and office.
His team said Pence told the National Archives that there were a small number of potential classified documents discovered in two boxes.
Fox News noted there were an additional two boxes that had copies of vice presidential papers.
The National Archives went on to inform the FBI.
Greg Jacob, an attorney for Pence, wrote to Acting Director Kate Dillon McClure of the White House Liaison Division National Archives and Records Administration, telling her about the papers “containing classified markings,” according to the report.
Pence’s team shared that after the documents were discovered, they were put into a safe.
The outlet pointed out Pence was in Washington, D.C., for the March for Life when the documents were gathered by the FBI.
There were no classified documents found at Pence’s Advancing American Freedom office.
The report sparked conversation on Twitter with several pointing out how odd the discoveries of the documents are.
Edward Snowden tweeted, “How is it possible that I have fewer classified documents in my house than the last few White House admins?”
He added, “The Espionage Act is a ‘strict liability’ crime: good intentions are no defense. Under the (dumb) law, these guys are all unindicted criminals.”
How is it possible that I have fewer classified documents in my house than the last few White House admins?
The Espionage Act is a "strict liability" crime: good intentions are no defense. Under the (dumb) law, these guys are all unindicted criminals.https://t.co/KNIRJz2M0X
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) January 24, 2023
One tweet suggested it is “weird how suddenly everyone is ‘finding’ classified docs around their homes.”
BREAKING: Mike Pence finds classified documents in his Indiana home.
Weird how suddenly everyone is “finding” classified docs around their homes.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 24, 2023
Senators also appeared baffled by the discovery.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told CNN, “Sounds like it’s proliferating. I don’t get it. Anybody that deals with classified materials knows they have to be maintained in a secure place and not be available to our adversaries by putting them into a place that’s easily penetrated. So, it’s not good.”
Cornyn:“Sounds like its proliferating. I don’t get it. Anybody that deals with classified materials knows they have to be maintained in a secure place and not be available to our adversaries by putting them into a place that’s easily penetrated. So, it’s not good.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 24, 2023
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said, “The standards that we apply here are so different in terms of our access to these documents and what we can do with them. I just can’t explain… If it’s a shabby staff work, so be it. But ultimately, the elected officials have to be held responsible.”
Durbin: "The standards that we apply here are so different in terms of our access to these documents and what we can do with them. I just can't t explain. it If it's a shabby staff work, so be it. But ultimately, the elected officials have to be held responsible."
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 24, 2023
The revelation comes just days after more classified documents were found at Biden’s Delaware residence after a lengthy search, as IJR reported.
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