By Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Documents marked as classified were discovered at former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana home last week, and he has turned those classified records over to the FBI, his representative said in letters seen by Reuters.
Pence’s representative sent a letter to the National Archives notifying them of the documents and in a separate letter said the FBI came to the former vice president’s home to collect the documents.
The discovery puts Pence in the company of his former boss, former President Donald Trump, and President Joe Biden after documents with classified markings were found at their residences.
Pence’s representative, Greg Jacob, said in a letter dated Jan. 18 to the National Archives that “out of an abundance of caution” Pence had engaged outside counsel to review records stored in his home after reports about the materials found at Biden’s residence.
“Counsel identified a small number of documents that could potentially contain sensitive or classified information interspersed throughout the records,” Jacob wrote in the letter.
“Vice President Pence immediately secured those documents in a locked safe pending further direction on proper handling from the National Archives,” he said.
In a separate letter dated Jan. 22, Jacob said the Justice Department “bypassed the standard procedures and requested direct possession” of the documents at Pence’s residence.
With agreement by the former vice president, FBI agents came to his Indiana home at 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 19 to collect the documents stored in the safe, Jacob said.
Biden, whose documents dated from his time as vice president, and Trump, who resisted turning over the items, leading to an FBI raid, are both facing special counsel investigations by the Justice Department over improper handling of classified materials.
During a presidential transition period, the records from each administration are supposed to be turned over to the legal custody of the U.S. National Archives. It is unlawful to knowingly or willfully remove or retain classified material. Failure to properly store and secure classified material poses risks to national security if it should fall into the wrong hands.
CNN first reported the story of the documents being found at Pence’s home.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; additional reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Heather Timmons and Alistair Bell)
