The revelation that classified documents were found in former Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana home caught Republicans and Democrats by surprise.
The news came on Tuesday (January 25), despite the discovery being made several days earlier on Thursday (January 19).
Pence’s personal attorney relayed to the National Archives that the former Vice President had used the assistance of an outside counsel to review the records he kept at his home as a precautionary measure after dozens of classified documents were found at President Joe Biden’s former office in Washington, D.C., and his Wilmington, Del. home.
Senator Marco Rubio (Fla.), the highest-ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, relayed to “The Hill” that he couldn’t understand what happened to enable the White House’s most senior members to possess this many classified documents.
Rubio added, “clearly, at the executive branch, they’re just packing boxes.”
The Florida Republican also expressed that he didn’t believe what Pence did was “nefarious in any way.”
Rubio also revealed he expected the subject of the unauthorized storage of classified information by former members of the executive branch to be breached when Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines appears before the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) also noted he didn’t understand why there was so much mishandling of classified documents.
Cornyn explained that anybody dealing with classified information “knows that they have to be maintained in a secure place.”
Fellow Republican Senator Mike Rounds (S.D.) summarized the recent revelations as pointing to a “cavalier attitude” about classified material at the White House.
