It seems eminently clear to me that despite Pence’s many reassurances that he had NO classified documents, he knew that he likely did, and when he realized he would get caught in a fib, tried to get ahead of the game by having his lawyer search “just in case”.
Agree with this. As expected, TFG broke the mold of responsible Presidential behavior. This issue may not have even surfaced had he just cooperated from the beginning.
A side question: is there a ledger somehere of all classified documents? How do authorites know something is missing, and who has it? Did someone know what Pence and Biden had, or did they know the documents were missing but no sure where? Or is it that no one knew of the existence of Pence’s documents?
Doubtful that there even could be such a ledger. As someone pointed out up thread, many classified documents could be created in situ. Someone writes down Pence’s schedule for the day, then marks it classified because if it were to be publicized ahead of time, that could endanger him. Any calls they make would be logged, and probably classified out of an abundance of caution. Many if not most of these documents likely have a de-classified copy at NARA, as, while it’s a matter of security to keep an official’s upcoming schedule a secret, it’s may be a matter of public interest as to what their last week’s schedule was.
So, my speculation is that that is exactly what these are. Documents that were generated by staffers in the vicinity of Pence, (or Biden, but that’s not this thread) marked classified out of an abundance of caution. Copied and sent to NARA, but the original gets shuffled into the reams of daily paperwork that goes through those offices.
Unfortunately, with these documents being classified, the public doesn’t know what was in them. So while I speculate that it was pretty innocent with nothing compromising national security in them, others can speculate the exact opposite end of the spectrum, and neither has any actual evidence to back their position.
FWIW here is the YouTube channel LegalEagle’s take on the potential criminality surrounding these documents. It mainly focuses on Biden but Trump and Pence figure in it too. It also suggests how the cases might differ legally (even if on the surface they seem similar).
Tl;Dw: Biden is probably not in much trouble mainly because he complied with regulations about returning the documents. Trump may be in more trouble. They admit there is not a whole lot of known facts yet so grain of salt and all that.
the fbi did an unrestricted search today on pence’s home. yep, one document found marked classified, also other papers were taken.
oy! how many searches does it take to find all the items?
One thing that stands out to me in all these investigations into classified information:
Trump and Pence were in office and had access to classified information for 4 years apiece.
Biden has served in the Senate, as a VP and as a president for more than 40 years and has had access to classified information in various capacities for much of that time. He noted in a recent interview that at least one bit of the classified information found in his possession was dated from 1974.
It makes the disparities in what has been found even more stark.
I’m glad I’m not so important that I have apparent filing cabinets worth of materials at my home. I can search my filing box in minutes.
Look at 'ol Chimpy having a good time with Obama and Clinton. He must thank og for PAB everyday- no more “worst president” for him.