The FBI is conducting a consensual search at the Carmel, Indiana, home of former Vice President Mike Pence for any classified documents, according to two U.S. officials. Local police say they are directing traffic in the area while the search is carried out.
No warrant was issued, and the search is taking place with the cooperation of Pence’s team. The Justice Department declined to comment.
Pence has also been subpoenaed by special counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing the investigations into former President Donald Trump. Sources told CBS News in November that the Justice Department had reached out to Pence in connection to Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election and Jan. 6, 2021. Sources familiar with the matter told CBS News at the time that Pence had received the request and was reviewing it. Smith is also looking into Trump’s handling of classified documents after his presidency.
The search is being conducted by FBI Indianapolis and at at this time, it is not connected to Smith’s investigations of classified documents found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence or at locales related to President Biden where classified documents were also found.
In January, a small number of documents with classification markings were found interspersed with Pence’s personal papers at his home, including briefings from foreign trips. Pence’s team said it turned the records over to authorities.
The former vice president has said he accepts “full responsibility” for the existence of the documents from his time as vice president.
“Those classified documents should not have been in my personal residence, mistakes were made,” Pence told a crowd in Miami last month. “And I take full responsibility. And I direct my counsel to work with the National Archives, with the Department of Justice, and with the Congress to fully cooperate in any investigation,” Pence said. “I know that when errors are made, it’s important that they be resolved swiftly and disclosed.”
NARA has asked representatives of the six most recent past presidential administrations to comb through their personal records again to check for any classified or other presidential records. That request to review documents was prompted by documents marked as classified found at the residences of President Biden, Pence and former President Donald Trump.
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