The classified documents found in Mike Pence’s Indiana home were background information before foreign trips, according to a report Wednesday night.
The documents – about 12 – were found on January 16, and on January 18, Pence’s staff alerted the National Archives.
Sources are now telling CNN that the documents were of a lower classification than the top-secret papers found in Joe Biden’s Delaware home and Washington DC office and than the 300 files found in Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago -Resort were found.
It’s not uncommon for senior government officials to have classified documents in their homes, as they are needed for late-night research and reference, but they should be turned over to the National Archives once the official leaves office.
Biden and Pence followed procedure by notifying authorities as soon as the documents were found: Trump trailed behind for 15 months, driving the FBI to eventually search his Florida home to seize and confiscate the files.
About a dozen classified documents were found at Mike Pence’s Indiana home
The documents were found at Pence’s home in Indiana. He bought the Carmel home for $1.93 million
Earlier Wednesday, a senior Democrat applauded Biden and Pence as they searched their homes for classified documents – while also admitting he was “frustrated” they had removed the documents in the first place.
“I get frustrated when people don’t handle confidential classified documents the way they should,” Pete Aguilar, chairman of the Democratic Caucus, said at a news conference on Wednesday.
“It is clear that some protocols were not followed.”
Aguilar, a Democrat representing California, reflected a growing sentiment on Capitol Hill: Lawmakers feel their rules for viewing sensitive material are treated with more care than those at the Citywide White House.
“I often go to the security facility and read documents. There’s a process by which we’re allowed to do that,” Aguilar said.
“There is a process where we leave equipment and review the material in a safe environment and then leave. They are clear protocols.”
Aguilar said Biden and Pence handled finding documents “the way they were supposed to — letting everyone know and talking to the archives and law enforcement about what was found.”
“I get frustrated when someone doesn’t handle confidential classified documents the way they should,” Aguilar, the chair of the Democratic Caucus, told reporters in a news conference on Wednesday
Aguilar said Biden and Vice President Pence handled finding documents “as they should.”
He did not address the fact that the public was notified of the Pence documents days after they were found, but did learn of the first installment of the Biden documents months later and after the midterm elections.
“It is clear that the former president did not handle this appropriately,” Aguilar said, referring to Donald Trump.
‘[He] blocked every possible way for the authorities to leave this material and lied about the material possessions. So you see them differently. But I think overall it’s a disappointment,” added the caucus chairman.
A lawyer for Pence found about a dozen documents with classified markings during a search last week – at Pence’s request.
The boxes were immediately turned over to the FBI, and the Justice Department is investigating.
The discovery came after Pence repeatedly insisted he had no classified documents.
Pence’s attorney, Greg Jacob, said in his letter to the National Archives that the former vice president “as a precaution hired an outside attorney experienced in dealing with classified documents” to review the records held at his home on January 16.” amid furor over discovery of documents at Biden’s home.
FBI agents visited Pence’s home at 9:30 p.m. on the night of January 19 to collect the seized documents.
The former Vice President was in Washington, DC for an event at the time.
According to the letter, a total of four boxes containing copies of administrative papers were discovered — two containing “a small number” of papers with secret markings and two containing “courtesy copies of vice presidential papers.”
Arrangements have been made to deliver these boxes to the National Archives on Monday.
James Comer, a Kentucky Republican and chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said Pence has sought to offer his cooperation with the congressional body.
“Former Vice President Pence’s transparency is in stark contrast to the Biden White House staffers who continue to withhold information from Congress and the American people,” he said in a statement.
Republican Caucus Chair Elise Stefanik also drew a stark contrast between Pence’s and Biden’s handling of classified documents.
‘[Pence] has come forward and been proactive and is following the process,” she said.
“In the case of Joe Biden, he had classified documents dating back to his time in the Senate, where he began serving before I was born.
“So this is a long-standing threat to national security, aside from the fact that Hunter Biden also had access and was used as his home address where these documents were improperly and illegally stored.”