WASHINGTON [US], Feb 11: A document with classified markings was removed from former US Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana home on Friday during a search by the FBI, according to Pence’s spokesman Devin O’Malley, CNN reported.
According to O’Malley, “Six additional pages without such markings that were not discovered in the initial review by the vice president’s counsel, were also removed.” Classified documents were found at Pence’s Indiana home in January, The Hill reported citing officials.
According to The Hill, Pence’s team, in January notified that a small number of records were “accidentally packaged and carried” to the former vice president’s residence at the end of the previous administration.
According to a letter from Pence’s attorney to the National Archives, Pence was “unaware of the existence of sensitive or classified records in his own residence.”
The former Vice President is currently on the West Coast with his family after the birth of his two grandchildren, according to his spokesperson.
In the coming days, the FBI is expected to search Pence’s office in Washington, DC.
Pence was on Thursday summoned by special counsel Jack Smith, who is investigating former President Donald Trump and his role in January 6, 2021, insurrection.
The recent search comes after the FBI and the Justice Department’s National Security Division launched a review of the documents and how they ended up in Pence’s house. It is yet not clear what the documents are related to or their level of sensitivity or classification, according to CNN.
Pence previously acknowledged that “mistakes were made,” as he took responsibility for classified documents ending up in his home and pledged to “fully cooperate” with any FBI investigation. He said that the found documents had been “immediately” secured and the National Archives was notified, according to CNN.
The 12 classified documents found at Pence’s home included materials described as background briefing memos that were prepared for Pence’s foreign trips, and sources described the classification markings as on the “lower level.” The boxes in question had not gone through the thorough procedures Pence’s office had in place for documents because they were packed at the last minute, sources said.
At present, US President Joe Biden is also facing a surge in criticism over classified documents.
The classified documents were found at Biden’s Delaware home and at his old office in Washington, DC.
After conducting an extensive search in Biden’s home, six classified documents were found including personally handwritten notes, files, papers, and binders that covered decades of his work and his personal attorney described them as “documents with classification markings and surrounding materials.”
The Justice Department also took some of Biden’s handwritten notes from his vice-presidential years to further review them. (ANI)
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