FBI to search Mike Pence’s home for classified documents

The FBI is soon expected to search former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana home and Washington, D.C., office for classified material, U.S. media reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Justice Department is in talks with Pence’s legal team about scheduling the search of his Indiana home, the Wall Street Journal reported. CNN reported Pence’s Washington office was also expected to be searched.

Lawyers for Pence did not immediately provide comment on the report. The FBI declined to comment, and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pence’s attorney, Greg Jacob, disclosed in January that documents marked as classified had been found at his Indiana home, and that they had been turned over to the FBI. Jacob described them as a “small number of documents that could potentially contain sensitive or classified information”.

Citing a person close to Pence, the Wall Street Journal reported that his legal team considered the earlier search of his home exhaustive and didn’t believe there were additional classified documents.

CNN, citing a source, reported that Pence’s team does not believe there are classified records at either his home or his office.

The discovery of classified records in January put Pence in the company of former President Donald Trump and incumbent President Joe Biden after documents with classified markings were found at their residences.

Biden, whose documents dated from his time as vice president, and Trump, whose resistance to turning over the items led to an FBI raid, are both facing special counsel investigations by the Justice Department over improper handling of classified materials.

FBI agents searched Biden’s Delaware beach house on Wednesday, but no classified documents were found, the president’s attorney said.