The FBI conducted a search of former Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana home on Friday weeks after documents with classified trademarks were found there, multiple outlets reported.
The search was conducted in cooperation with Pence’s team, which had been in contact with federal officials about it in advance. News of the search was first reported by Politico.
A Pence spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Pence’s attorney, Greg Jacob, notified the National Archives on January 18 that a small number of documents with classified marks were found at the former vice president’s home in Indiana. Officials searched the home for classified documents out of an abundance of caution after confidential government materials were found at President Biden’s home in Wilmington, Del., and his former office in Washington, DC.
The documents were turned over to federal authorities the next day, along with two other boxes containing copies of the administration’s records, Jacob said.
Some Pence allies have expressed frustration with the handling of the situation, arguing that federal investigators were much quicker to search Pence’s house than Biden’s.
“And with Joe Biden, it actually took 79 days after the discovery announcement before they came to his house,” Pence aide Marc Short said on CNN Wednesday. “And you know, we keep seeing repeat leaks at the Department of Justice, about law enforcement officials confirming a search that’s pending. It didn’t happen that way at Joe Biden’s house either. There was no announcement of the break-in of his house until much later”.
Classified documents were found in Biden’s former Washington, D.C., office at the Penn Biden Center in November, and documents were found at his Wilmington home in December and early January, though the revelations were not immediately made public.
Last August, the FBI searched the Florida property of former President Donald Trump after months of back and forth trying to obtain classified materials that Trump had taken with him upon leaving office in 2021. Officials discovered dozens of classified documents there, including some marked “top secret.”
In response to the findings at the homes of Biden and Trump, Pence had said that he did not take any classified material with him upon leaving office. Days after the discovery of him at his Indiana home, Pence said “mistakes were made” in packing materials from his time as vice president, and vowed to cooperate with federal officials on the matter.
Pence is considering a potential 2024 presidential run, making regular trips to early voting states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
