It appears that US leaders’ decision to ‘work from home’ is coming back to haunt them as yet another top official ends up under investigation for keeping classified documents in their private residence.
Just two months after attacking former President Donald Trump over near-identical accusations, former US Vice President Mike Pence has been left eating crow acknowledging that a small number of documents bearing classified markings were discovered in his personal residence in Carmel, Indiana, earlier this month.
Pence stated on NBC’s “Meet the Press” in November that possessing classified documents in an unprotected area is clearly not proper.
Greg Jacob, a representative for Pence and his counsel, sent a letter to the National Archives on Jan. 18 acknowledging that towards the end of the most recent administration, Pence has inadvertently boxed and transported classified files – including a few that could potentially contain sensitive information – to his home.
The letter insisted that Pence immediately secured those documents in a locked safe pending further direction on proper handling from the National Archives.
According to Pence’s attorney, the FBI retrieved a certain number of classified documents in the home of Pence who has previously argued that he didn’t take any classified documents with him when he left the office.
The search, which was done proactively, happens in the wake of the news that President Joe Biden has kept in his home and in his old office in Washington classified documents from his time as vice president and in the Senate.
In light of that discovery and allegedly out of an abundance of caution, Pence engaged lawyers on Jan. 16 to review documents he kept at his Indiana home and the FBI agents came to his home on the evening of Jan. 19 to retrieve the documents.
Pointing out an evident systemic problem with former occupants of the presidency and vice presidency, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff said during an appearance on MSNBC that there needs to be a review of what happens when people leave that office since they’re having classified information at their homes when it shouldn’t be there.
Neither Attorney General Merrick Garland nor the National Archives wanted to comment on the discovery of the documents in Pence’s home.
Be the first to comment