FBI raids home of ex-US Vice President Mike Pence

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Ex-US Vice President Mike Pence

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John Minchillo / dpa

According to media reports, the US federal police FBI searched the property of former Vice President Mike Pence.

The background is the discovery of secret government documents in Pence's private home.

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Police outside Mike Pence's Indiana home

Photo: Michael Conroy/AP

According to the broadcaster CNN, the former vice president under President Donald Trump was not in the house in Indiana at the time of the search, but one of his lawyers was.

The search of the Republican comes as no surprise: the Justice Department and lawyers had reportedly previously agreed.

Pence have assured that they want to fully cooperate.

According to a Pence lawyer, a "small number" of documents with potentially classified information were found in the house in January.

"Accidentally packed"

The files were "accidentally packed" when President Donald Trump's then deputy left office in early 2021.

Accordingly, after the discovery of secret documents in the private home of US President Joe Biden, Pence had hired a lawyer to check documents in his home in Indiana as a precautionary measure.

In the past few weeks, documents with confidential markings from his time as deputy have also appeared in Biden's private rooms.

Finds in ex-President Donald Trump's estate in Mar-a-Lago had already caused a stir in the summer.

Attorney General Merrick Garland has appointed two special prosecutors.

Pence was Trump's runner-up from 2017 to 2021.

He is expected to run for the Republican presidential nomination himself.

The election will take place in November 2024.

hba/dpa/AFP