FBI Finds Another Classified Document at Pence's Home

Facts

• After he delivered two boxes of classified material to the bureau more than three weeks ago, the FBI on Friday discovered one additional classified document and six unclassified records at the home of former VP Mike Pence. Pence spokesperson Devin O’Malley said the five-hour search was ‘consensual,’ ‘thorough,’ and ‘unrestricted.’
• According to a source familiar with the matter, Pence and his wife weren’t home during the search, but a member of the former VP’s legal team was present as the Dept. of Justice (DOJ) searched for what it considered might be original records that should have been sent to the National Archives.
• This comes as Pence, who last month told his team to search his home and office for documents following discoveries at Pres. Biden’s former think tank office, was recently subpoenaed by special counsel Jack Smith in his probe into the documents found at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.
• Some of the documents that have been found at Pence’s house reportedly came from his office drawer at the White House, while others were from the vice presidential home at the Naval Observatory.
• As Trump faces his criminal probe regarding potentially obstructing the DOJ’s attempts to recover classified material, a second special counsel, Robert Hur, is investigating Biden’s documents that were found in his former office in Washington, DC, and his home in Wilmington, Delaware.
• Pence, who is seen as a potential contender against his former boss Trump in the 2024 presidential election, has admitted that mistakes have been made but that he had ‘acted above politics and put national interests first.’

Sources: New York Post, NBC, Daily Wire, Al Jazeera, and Reuters.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Marist Circle. Though the GOP is trying to equate Biden’s handling of documents with that of Trump, both Biden and Pence have actually cooperated with the national archives while Trump actively fights them, which is why the current president and former VP will likely face more leniency from the DOJ than their counterpart. As 2024 approaches, the potential presidential campaigns of Pence and Biden will face less controversy simply due to this fact.
• Pro-Trump narrative, as provided by Federalist. As Biden continues to tout his cooperation with the national archives as evidence of his moral superiority, what the other side won’t mention is that Trump’s Mar-a-Lago was protected by the Secret Service, while Biden’s documents were stashed in an unguarded public building. It’s hard to imagine what the FBI would find if it raided the private property of any former president — say, Obama — because those politicians are friends of the powers that be, which is the true double standard here.