The discovery of sensitive documents in former Vice President Mike Pence’s Indiana home was quickly capitalised on by advisors to both former Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Both saw it as a strong point in their own document investigations.
When it comes to their handling of secret documents, Biden’s staff continues to distinguish him from Trump, and in the immediate aftermath, the similarities between the Pence and Biden cases have worked to hone that argument.
However, individuals familiar with both instances admitted that Tuesday’s fresh information regarding the delicate items discovered at Pence’s residence aided their position.
According to a source familiar with the situation, on the one hand, Trump’s legal team sees the news that classified documents were discovered at Pence’s residence as a positive development for the former president. They think the finding, along with Biden’s own ongoing special counsel investigation into his handling of classified documents, alters the nature of the Justice Department’s investigation into the former president.
Despite the fact that each situation is unique, members of Trump’s legal team feel that these developments will make it more difficult for prosecutors to prove that any of them should face criminal charges, the source added.
According to sources who told AWN that the Pence revelation “turns down the temperature on this being a Biden-only story,” Biden officials were comforted by the news.
Another individual with knowledge of the probe compared Pence’s actions after learning about the classified papers to those of Biden. Shortly after learning of the secret materials, Pence turned over approximately a dozen of them to the FBI.
Though the discovery wasn’t made public for weeks, Biden’s crew quickly contacted the National Archives and the Justice Department after discovering secret materials at his Washington, DC, think tank office in November.
According to the source, “it looks Pence has followed an almost similar beginning approach as Biden in terms of a voluntary review of papers and rapid submission to the appropriate authorities when they were located.” All of these actions were made public by a media story.
Only recently, months after the initial discovery of sensitive documents, did the FBI inspect Biden’s residence. Between November and January, Biden’s team found documents scattered over several places.
However, Trump allies welcomed the Pence news and think it furthers the overlap of the three cases.
Regarding Pence, Biden, and Trump, the source acquainted with the legal team of Donald Trump stated, “They are all now tied in a way.”
According to the source, Trump’s team also thinks the Biden and Pence revelations support their claim that this should not be handled as a criminal matter but rather as an administrative review of the White House’s procedure for handling classified material under the supervision of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The probe by the special counsel into Trump’s handling of secret information also looks into potential obstruction of justice. The Justice Department has begun an investigation into how the Pence documents came to be in his Indiana home.
Mike Pence is an innocent man, Trump wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday in response to the discovery of the Pence documents. Never in his life did he intentionally do anything dishonest. Just let him be!
The Pence headline was good news for Biden administration officials and allies, who have been under fire for the past few weeks due to numerous disclosures of sensitive information discovered at Biden’s private office in Washington, DC, and later his home in Wilmington, Delaware. It was even cause for quiet celebration.
It lowers expectations that this is a Biden-only story, in the words of one senior administration official.
This individual expressed the expectation that the finding of classified records at Pence’s residence would serve as evidence that Biden’s staff were not the only ones to pack away records that ought to have been turned over to the National Archives.
Another hope is that the White House will use this development to emphasise that how the situation was handled after the classified documents were discovered is what matters most, and that they will continue to highlight the differences between how the Biden legal team handled the situation and how Trump and his allies handled it.
The Pence bombshell on Tuesday was mostly avoided by the White House. One insider pointed out the necessity to maintain continuity in this position and explained that the White House’s long-standing commitment to refrain from participating in current reviews and investigations was linked in part to the decision not to discuss the discovery publicly.
However, there was also the opinion that it would be more beneficial to let the Pence development stand on its own – a quite different strategy from drawing a direct comparison to Trump’s case.
But it is one that emphasises the cautious handling of what one official acknowledged was a “helpful example” of another former vice president, dealing with problems that appeared to result from the transition out of office, who publicly stated no awareness that classified documents were in his possession. The obvious benefit of the former vice president having served in a Republican administration went unmentioned.
The official continued, “We’ll let you guys draw the inferences about what this all means,” in addition to that.
That didn’t mean that officials weren’t closely monitoring the developments throughout the day. Part of that effort included monitoring how Republicans on Capitol Hill reacted to the Pence announcement, with a particular focus on those who had led or promised inquiries against Biden.