Kristen Welker (00:00):
Tonight, the controversy over classified material now spreading again, with former Vice President Mike Pence’s legal team revealing a small number of classified documents were inadvertently taken to Pence’s Indiana home after he left the vice presidency, according to a letter his legal team sent to the National Archives and obtained by NBC News. They say the former VP asked his team to conduct a search and was unaware he had the secret material in his home. It was discovered January 16th. By January 18th, the letter was sent to the National Archives. The next day, the FBI took possession of the documents. Pence’s team says he is cooperating fully. It comes after he was asked last year if he took classified documents after leaving the vice presidency.
Mike Pence (00:49):
I did not.
Kristen Welker (00:50):
Tonight, there’s bipartisan criticism that a sitting president, a former president and now a former vice president have all acknowledged having classified material in unsecured locations.
Rep. Don Bacon (01:01):
We have an epidemic of senior leaders taking classified home, and we have to say, categorically, whether it’s Republican or Democrat, it’s all wrong.
Sen. Mark Warner (01:08):
Kind of thought, “Holy heck.” And I do wonder, how many other formers.
Kristen Welker (01:15):
Meanwhile, the firestorm over President Biden’s handling of classified material is growing, with the possibility the FBI may search his beach house. Just this weekend, the FBI searching Mr. Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware home, finding yet another batch of classified documents, the fourth discovery so far, including classified material dating back to his time in the Senate. That new discovery after a defiant Mr. Biden had insisted there was no there there.
Joe Biden (01:42):
I have no regrets. I’m following what the lawyers have told me they want me to do, it’s exactly what we’re doing. There’s no there there.
Kristen Welker (01:51):
Tonight, the President yet again ignoring reporters’ questions as he met with top congressional Democrats, with the special counsel investigation threatening to overshadow his agenda.
Lester Holt (02:02):
So Kristen, where does this leave us? What happens next with these documents from former VP Pence?
Kristen Welker (02:07):
Well, Lester, his spokesman says they have not yet heard anything back since turning the documents over to the FBI. Meanwhile, former President Trump, often critical of Pence and who’s facing a special counsel investigation regarding classified material, posting today, “Mike Pence is an innocent man. Leave him alone.”