FBI searches and finds one additional classified record in Pence's home

[February 11, 2023]  By Sarah N. Lynch and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The FBI recovered one additional government page with classified markings during a consensual search on Friday at the Indianapolis residence of former Vice President Mike Pence, after classified documents were discovered at his house last month, a Pence spokesman said.

The search, confirmed earlier in the day by a Justice Department official, came after Pence's attorney 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," his spokesman Devin O'Malley said.

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 vice president's counsel," he added.

Neither Pence nor his wife were 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 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 Pence's house.

The search of Pence's home comes as former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden face investigations by two special counsels over the retention of classified records.

Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence gives a speech at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, U.S., October 19, 2022. REUTERS/Leah Millis

Special Counsel Jack Smith is investigating whether Trump or his associates may have obstructed the Justice Department's probe into his retention of thousands of government records, several hundred of which were marked as classified, after he departed the White House in January 2021.

The FBI conducted a court-approved search of Trump's Florida estate on Aug. 8, where they 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 Biden's legal team revealed they discovered classified documents in November at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, a University of Pennsylvania think tank. Biden had an office there after he served as vice president under Barack Obama and before his presidential election.

Since then, additional records were also found at Biden's residence in Wilmington.

A third search of Biden's Delaware beach home earlier this month did not find any additional documents.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch and Steve Holland; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Heather Timmons and David Gregorio)

[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.