WASHINGTON – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recovered one additional government page with classified markings during a consensual search on Friday at the Indianapolis residence of former US vice-president Mike Pence, after classified documents were discovered at his house in January, a spokesman for Mr Pence said.
The search, confirmed earlier in the day by a Justice Department official, came after Mr Pence’s attorney, Mr Greg Jacobs, notified the National Archives in a Jan 18 letter about the discovery of records with classified markings. The records were then turned over to the FBI.
“Pence and his legal team have fully cooperated with the appropriate authorities,” said spokesman Devin O’Malley.
In addition to locating one page with classified markings, the FBI also recovered “six additional pages without such markings that were not discovered in the initial review by the (former) vice-president’s counsel”, he added.
Neither Mr Pence nor his wife were at home during the search, but a member of his legal team was present and the Justice Department was given full access to the home.
Earlier in the day, throngs of people from media outlets gathered outside the home while the search ensued, and a police car could be seen in footage from ABC News blocking the driveway to Mr Pence’s house.
The search of Mr Pence’s home comes as former US president Donald Trump and President Joe Biden face investigations by two special counsels over the retention of classified records.
Special counsel Jack Smith is investigating whether Mr Trump or his associates may have obstructed the Justice Department’s probe into his retention of thousands of government records, several hundreds of which were marked as classified, after he departed the White House in January 2021.
The FBI conducted a court-approved search of Mr Trump’s Florida estate on Aug 8, where agents collected about 13,000 records, about 100 of which contained classified markings.
Separately, Attorney-General Merrick Garland appointed special counsel Robert Hur in January, after Mr Biden’s legal team revealed that it discovered classified documents in November at the Penn Biden Centre for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, a University of Pennsylvania think-tank.
Mr Biden had an office there after he served as vice-president under then President Barack Obama and before his presidential election.
Since then, additional records were also found at Mr Biden’s residence in Wilmington.
A third search of Mr Biden’s Delaware beach home earlier in February did not find any additional documents. REUTERS
