Mike Pence’s lawyer briefed the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday about the classified documents.
Washington:
Former US Vice President Mike Pence revealed on Tuesday that he had uncovered documents marked classified at his home, the latest twist in how politicians handle the country’s most sensitive secrets.
Pence was seen as an outside bet for the presidency in 2024, with his lawyer last week notifying the National Archives of a “small number” of records that were “inadvertently boxed” and set to leave office in 2021. They were then transported to their homes in Indiana.
He reported the cache to the Republican-led House Oversight Committee on Tuesday, according to Chairman James Comer, who said in a statement that Pence “has been fully cooperative with the congressional oversight and any questions we have about the matter.” agreed to do.”
It was not immediately clear what information the documents contained or the level of classification they had been assigned.
The search comes in the wake of revelations about classified material discovered in President Joe Biden’s private office and residence, and allegations that Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump subpoenaed an FBI investigation into a vast haul of government secrets found at his home. interrupted.
Without mentioning Trump’s case, Comer said, “Former Vice President Pence’s transparency stands in stark contrast to the Biden White House staff, who continue to withhold information from Congress and the American people.”
Pence had asked his lawyer to search his home to conduct an “abundance of caution”, CNN reported, citing unnamed sources, and the lawyer last week went through four boxes stored in Pence’s home. started going
– ‘An innocent man’ –
“Mike Pence is an innocent man. He has never knowingly committed a dishonest act in his life. Leave him alone!!!” Trump posted on his Truth social platform.
The development comes as Republicans launched their own investigation into classified documents in the possession of Biden, who himself was vice president under Barack Obama when he was ousted from the White House.
The records were found in a private think tank office where the president worked in Washington in early November, in the president’s Wilmington, Delaware garage on December 20, and in his home library on January 12. Justice Department officials found six more classified documents during a search of the Delaware House last week.
Comer has asked the Washington think tank for all of its communications related to security by February 1, as well as a list of staff and others with keycard access, and Biden’s visitor’s log.
Government officials may face action for civil or criminal violations for mishandling classified records. But due to Justice Department policy, current presidents cannot be impeached.
Justice Department special counsels Robert Haar and Jack Smith are leading the criminal investigation into the Biden and Trump documents, respectively.
Republicans have added the scandal to their growing pile of scrutiny of the Biden administration and have accused the federal government of holding Trump to a higher standard than his successor.
The White House is trying to draw a distinction between the Biden and Trump cases, however, underlining that the president’s alleged conduct is far less egregious than the actions Trump has been accused of.
– ‘Accidentally in the wrong place’ –
“We are confident that a thorough review will reveal that these documents were inadvertently lost, and the president and his lawyers acted promptly upon learning of this mistake,” Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, said in a statement.
Trump is accused of resisting repeated attempts by the Justice Department and the National Archives to retrieve hundreds of classified materials deposited at his South Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago.
The standoff led to a raid by the FBI on the beachfront mansion and club last August on suspicion of obstruction of justice.
The Biden administration says the volume of documents recovered from Trump and their sensitivity — including information provided by signals intelligence and human sources — explain the FBI’s more immediate response to that case.
But Republicans have seized on Biden’s remarks to CBS in September that Trump’s hoarding of presidential records was “completely irresponsible” to allege White House hypocrisy.
The Justice Department will be expected to demonstrate why charges can be filed in one case and not the other if Trump ends up being the only former top politician prosecuted.
Virtually any investigation of a politician in modern Washington is viewed through a partisan lens, and Trump regularly stirs outrage among his supporters by denouncing the investigation as a witch hunt.
Attorney General Merrick Garland, who was giving a news conference on a separate issue, declined to comment on Pence’s documents, refusing to disclose whether he was appointing a third special counsel to the case. .
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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