Documents marked confidential were discovered last week in the private home of former US Vice President Mike Pence (2017-2021) in the state of Indiana, according to his lawyer.
“The additional data appears to be a small number of documents with secret features that were accidentally placed in a crate and transported to the personal home of the former vice president at the end of the last administration”Pence’s lawyer, Greg Jacob, said last week in a letter to the National Archives, which is responsible for preserving this type of material.
That’s what the lawyer said “Pence was unaware of the existence of confidential or secret documents in his personal residence” and that it “recognizes the great importance of protecting sensitive and classified information and is ready and willing to cooperate fully with the National Archives and any appropriate investigation.”
A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment on the case on Tuesday.
Pence, who held the U.S. vice presidency under Donald Trump, told the Associated Press in August that he had not taken classified information with him when he left office.
Asked directly if he had withheld confidential information upon leaving office, Pence replied, “No, not that I know of.”
Pence is the new name added to the list of former rulers who will have held confidential documents that should have been turned over to the National Archives.
The current president, Joe Biden, is also under investigation for keeping confidential documents from his time as vice president (2009-2017) and senator (1973-2009) in his private home and office.
When the former head of state, Donald Trump, left the White House, he took boxes of documents with him, even though a 1978 law required every president to email all his working documents, including letters and messages.
Source: DN
