Pensas patvirtintas, nes DOJ baigia įslaptintų dokumentų tyrimą

TOPLINE

The Justice Department has wrapped up its investigation into classified White House documents found at former Vice President Mike Pence’s house after leaving office, multiple outlets report, clearing Pence of any wrongdoing before the ex-VP reportedly launches his presidential campaign next week.

svarbiausi faktai

The DOJ informed Pence’s attorney on Thursday that the investigation had been closed and no charges would be filed against the former vice president, according to copies of the letter first reported by NBC News and CNN.

Multiple classified documents were found at Pence’s home in Indiana in January and February, and additional non-classified materials were found at offices for Pence’s Advancing America Freedom organization, prompting the federal investigation.

The documents were turned over to the FBI upon their discovery, and Pence said in January that while he wasn’t aware of the documents being at his home, “mistakes were made, and I take full responsibility.”

Pence’s team is “pleased but not surprised” about the investigation being closed, advisors told NBC and CNN, noting the former VP’s cooperation with federal authorities—as compared with former President Donald Trump, who allegedly withheld classified documents from federal authorities when he was subpoenaed to turn them over.

DOJ dar neatsakė į prašymą pakomentuoti.

Ką reikia stebėti

Pence is expected to formally announce his 2024 presidential campaign on June 7, multiple outlets reported, wading into an increasingly crowded GOP primary field and taking on Trump after serving as his vice president. The former VP is expected to kick off his campaign at an event in Iowa and release a video message, the Associated Press reports, and he will also hold a CNN town hall that evening. A CNN poll released in May found only 6% of GOP voters name Pence as their first choice in the primaries, though 54% said they would at least consider supporting him.

Stebinantis faktas

Every presidential administration since Ronald Reagan has had some sort of issue with mishandling classified documents, Mark Bradley, the director of the National Archives’ Information Security Oversight Office, testified to the House Intelligence Committee.

Pagrindinės aplinkybės

The discovery of classified documents at Pence’s house came after Trump and President Joe Biden already faced government scrutiny for allegedly mishandling classified documents, as materials were found at Mar-A-Lago and at Biden’s Delaware residence and office at the Penn-Biden Center in Washington, D.C. DOJ investigations into both Trump and Biden remain pending, with special counsels overseeing each investigation to avoid any potential biases. (Pence’s investigation was not overseen by a special counsel, but one may have been appointed if he had launched his campaign before the probe had ended.) Trump, in particular, faces potentially imminent charges in the DOJ’s investigation into his handling of classified materials. The Wall Street Journal " reported in May that special counsel Jack Smith has “all but finished” gathering evidence in his investigation into Trump, though it was still unclear if any charges will be brought against the former president. In addition to federal statutes around the mishandling of government materials, the DOJ is looking into whether Trump unlawfully obstructed the federal government’s investigation, after federal agents found more than 100 classified documents at Mar-A-Lago in August 2022 even after subpoenaing Trump to turn them over in June. Smith has evidence that “appears to show Trump held on to sensitive documents after being asked to relinquish them,” the Žurnalas ataskaitas.

Papildoma literatūra

Justice Department will not seek criminal charges in Pence classified document probe (CNN)

Pranešama, kad Mike'as Pence'as birželio 7 d. skelbia prezidento kandidatūrą: čia yra visas 2024 m. GOP sąrašas („Forbes“)

Classified Documents Found At Mike Pence’s Home (Forbes)

DOJ Searches Pence’s Office, Removes Three ‘Redacted’ Documents—But No Classified Records (Forbes)

Not Just Trump And Biden: Every Administration Since Reagan Mishandled Classified Records, National Archives Finds (Forbes)