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Senators on both sides of the aisle were caught off guard Tuesday by the news that classified documents were found at the Indiana home of former Vice President Mike Pence, materials that were ultimately turned over to the FBI.
An attorney for Pence told the National Archives that the former vice president used outside counsel to review records stored at his personal home after several classified documents were found at the home and a former office of President Biden. The Pence news left some Senate lawmakers floored over yet another discovery of classified documents belonging to a former vice president.
“I don’t know what the hell is going on around here. It’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen,” Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told The Hill. “I have no reason to believe it’s nefarious in any way, but clearly at the executive branch they’re just packing boxes.”
Rubio told reporters that he expects the subject to come up on Wednesday when Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines is set to appear before the committee to discuss unrelated topics. The Wednesday afternoon briefing is closed to the public.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.), along with Rubio, has requested information from Haines following an FBI search in August of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property that turned up more than 100 documents with various classified markings.
Their requests, however, have not yielded much due to the appointment of a special counsel in the Trump case. Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed a separate counsel to review the documents that were found in the Biden locations, which date back to his time as vice president and as a senator.
