About ten documents were reportedly found by Pence’s attorney, who then reported the find to the National Archives. The FBI Federal Police and the Justice Department have launched an investigation into how the documents ended up in Pence’s private home. According to the sources, Pence had asked his lawyer to search several boxes of documents looking for potentially confidential copies. It is not yet clear what is in the documents.
Action taken
Pence may have taken action after a few dozen secret documents were also found in current President Joe Biden’s office and home in recent weeks. They date back to the period (2009-2017) when Biden was vice president of the United States. Biden himself also reported the discovery of the documents.
About 300 secret files were found in former President Donald Trump’s buildings during FBI raids last year. The Justice Department is investigating the matter. Trump allegedly brought these documents to Florida from Washington deliberately after his presidency. Trump’s files may contain nuclear secrets, US media have reported.
Mitigate the consequences
Pence’s discovery could mitigate potentially negative political fallout for Biden, who criticized Trump last fall for his handling of classified material. Biden was accused of hypocrisy when documents were found in his former office and garage. The issue has become politically sensitive for Biden and Trump, who could face each other in the November 2024 presidential election.
Prominent Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a critic of Biden and a Trump ally, believes the issue has been unnecessarily inflated. The South Carolina senator believes that none of the three deliberately attempted to undermine national security.
“Perhaps we classify too many documents as classified. What has become a political issue for Republicans is becoming a national security issue,” Graham said.