Lawyer: Classified Documents Found at Mike Pence's Indiana Residence

Documents with classified markings were discovered in former Vice President Mike Pence's Indiana home last week, according to his lawyer.

"Following press reports of classified documents at the personal home of President Biden, out of an abundance of caution, on Monday, January 16, Vice President Pence engaged outside counsel, with experience in handling classified documents, to review records stored in his personal home," Pence's lawyer, Greg Jacob, said in a letter to the National Archives dated Jan. 18. “Counsel identified a small number of documents that could potentially contain sensitive or classified information interspersed throughout the records.”

They were "inadvertently boxed and transported to the personal home of the former Vice President at the end of the last Administration," Jacob also wrote.

He added, "Pence was unaware of the existence of sensitive or classified documents at his personal residence" and that he "understands the high importance of protecting sensitive and classified information and stands ready and willing to cooperate fully with the National Archives and any appropriate inquiry."

Jacob noted he intended to deliver the boxes in which the documents were found, along with other vice-presidential papers, to the National Archives Monday.

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment Tuesday, and a lawyer for Pence did not immediately respond to an email seeking elaboration, The Associated Press reported.

Pence told AP in August that he did not take any classified information with him when he left office.

Asked directly if he had retained any classified information upon leaving office, he said, "No, not to my knowledge."

CNN, citing multiple unnamed sources, said about a dozen documents were found.

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, praised Pence in a statement Tuesday afternoon, saying the former vice president's "transparency stands in stark contrast to Biden White House staff who continue to withhold information from Congress and the American people."

This report contains information from The Associated Press.