The classified document scandals just keep getting worse and worse.
CNN broke exclusive, bombshell reporting today on the discovery of about a dozen documents with classified markings at Donald Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana home last week. Multiple sources familiar with the incident spoke with CNN and said the classified materials have been turned over to the FBI.
A review of the classified documents, as well as how they ended up in Pence’s possession at his personal residence in Indiana has been launched by the FBI as well as the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
CNN reports:
The classified documents were discovered at Pence’s new home in Carmel, Indiana, by a lawyer for Pence in the wake of the revelations about classified material discovered in President Joe Biden’s private office and residence, the sources said. The discovery comes after Pence has repeatedly said he did not have any classified documents in his possession.
It is not yet clear what the documents are related to or their level of sensitivity or classification.
Pence’s team notified congressional leaders and relevant committees of the discovery on Tuesday.
Pence asked his lawyer to conduct the search of his home out of an abundance of caution, and the attorney began going through four boxes stored at Pence’s house last week, finding a small number of documents with classified markings, the sources said.”
The source told the publication that Pence’s attorney immediately notified the National Archives and Records Administration upon discovery of the classified materials, who in turn notified the US Department of Justice.
“A lawyer for Pence told CNN that the FBI requested to pick up the documents with classified markings that evening, and Pence agreed. Agents from the FBI’s field office in Indianapolis picked up the documents from Pence’s home, the lawyer said,” CNN’s report reads. “On Monday, Pence’s legal team drove the boxes back to Washington, DC, and handed them over to the Archives to review the rest of the material for compliance with the Presidential Records Act.”
The former VP’s representative Greg Jacob penned a letter to NARA, admitting that a “small number of documents bearing classified markings” were accidentally boxed and moved to Pence’s home.
“Vice President Pence was unaware of the existence of sensitive or classified documents at his personal residence,” the letter reads. “Vice President Pence understands the high importance of protecting sensitive and classified information and stands ready and willing to cooperate fully with the National Archives and any appropriate inquiry.”
CNN further reports:
The classified material was stored in boxes that first went to Pence’s temporary home in Virginia before they were moved to Indiana, according to the sources. The boxes were not in a secure area, but they were taped up and were not believed to have been opened since they were packed, according to Pence’s attorney. Once the classified documents were discovered, the sources said they were placed inside a safe located in the house.
Pence’s Washington, DC, advocacy groupoffice was also searched, Pence’s lawyer said, and no classified material or other records covered by the Presidential Records Act was discovered.”
Read the full bombshell report here.
Featured image via screen capture
