Classified documents found at former US vice-president Mike Pence’s home
- Mike Pence found documents marked classified at his Indiana home this month which were taken by the FBI
- It puts Pence in the company of Donald Trump, as well as President Joe Biden, who mishandled classified documents
Former US vice-president Mike Pence revealed he had uncovered documents marked as classified at his home, the latest twist in a mushrooming scandal over politicians’ handling of the nation’s most sensitive secrets.
Pence, seen as an outside bet for the presidency in 2024, had his lawyer inform the National Archives last week of a “small number” of records that were “inadvertently boxed” and transported to his home in Indiana as he left office in 2021.
He informed the Republican-led House oversight committee about the cache on Tuesday, according to chairman James Comer, who said in a statement Pence had agreed to “fully cooperate with congressional oversight and any questions we have about the matter”.
It wasn’t immediately clear what information the documents contained or the level of classification they had been allocated.
The discovery comes in the wake of the revelations about classified material discovered in President Joe Biden’s private office and residence, and allegations that Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump obstructed justice over an FBI probe of a much larger stash of government secrets found at his home.
“Former vice-president Pence’s transparency stands in stark contrast to Biden White House staff who continue to withhold information from Congress and the American people,” Comer added, without mentioning the Trump case.