The FBI on Friday conducted a search of former Vice President Mike Pence’s home in Indiana weeks after documents with classified markings were found there, multiple outlets reported.
The search was done in cooperation with Pence’s team, which had been in touch 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 lawyer, Greg Jacob, notified the National Archives on Jan. 18 that a small number of documents with classified markings were found at the former vice president’s Indiana home. Officials had searched the home for classified documents out of an abundance of caution after sensitive government materials were found at President Biden’s home in Wilmington, Del., and his old office in Washington, D.C.
The documents were turned over to federal authorities the next day, along with two other boxes with copies of administration records, Jacob said.
Some Pence allies have expressed frustration about the handling of the situation, arguing that federal investigators were far quicker to search Pence’s home than they were to search Biden’s home.
“And with Joe Biden, it actually was 79 days after the announcement of discovery before they went to his home,” Pence aide Marc Short said on CNN on Wednesday. “And you know, we continue to see repeated leaks in the Department of Justice, about law enforcement officials confirming a search that’s pending. That’s not the way it happened at Joe Biden’s house, either. There was no announcement of the search of his home until much later.”
Classified documents were found at Biden’s old 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 made public immediately.
The FBI last August searched the Florida estate of former President Trump after months of back-and-forth trying to secure classified materials 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 Biden’s and Trump’s homes, Pence had said he did not take any classified material with him upon leaving office. Days after the discovery at his Indiana home, Pence said “mistakes were made” while packing up materials from his time as vice president, and he vowed to cooperate with federal officials on the matter.
Pence is mulling a potential 2024 presidential bid, making regular trips to early voting states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.