No classified documents found in DOJ search of Mike Pence office

The Justice Department searched the office of former Vice President Mike Pence’s nonprofit advocacy group Friday and confiscated three documents, none of which were marked as classified.

Pence adviser Devin O’Malley told The Post the search of the Washington office of Advancing American Freedom was “thorough and unrestricted” and lasted for “several hours.”

“One binder with approximately three previously redacted documents was taken,” O’Malley added. 

The documents in the binder are believed to have been used to prep Pence for his 2020 vice presidential debate with Kamala Harris, a person familiar with the matter told The Post. 

As was the case when FBI agents searched Pence’s Indiana home last week, a member of the former vice president’s legal team was present for the duration of the search.

The search of Pence’s home turned up one document with classified markings and six additional pages of interest to investigators that were not classified but may be government property covered under the federal Presidential Records Act.

The scope of the DOJ’s search Friday was the same that the department applied to the Penn Biden Center think tank and President Biden’s two residences in Delaware, the person familiar with the matter said.

Pence instructed his lawyers to sweep his Indiana home for classified documents on Jan. 16 after revelations that Biden improperly stored highly sensitive material at his former think tank office and his Wilmington, Del., home. 

A “small number” of potentially classified documents were found in four boxes during the search and were retrieved by the FBI on Jan. 19. 

“While I was not aware that the classified documents were in our personal residence, let me be clear, those classified documents should not have been in my personal residence,” Pence told an audience in Miami on Jan. 27. “Mistakes were made and I take full responsibility.”

“The vice president has consistently cooperated with appropriate authorities, has been fully transparent, and looks forward to the imminent conclusion of this matter,” O’Malley told The Post on Friday. 

Pence has said that he is considering a 2024 White House run, where he would be challenging his ex-boss, former President Donald Trump, who is also embroiled in a classified document scandal. 

Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed two special counsels to handle the separate investigations into Biden’s and Trump’s mishandling of classified documents and possible violations of the Presidential Records Act.