OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
It has not been a banner time for Democrat California Rep. Adam Schiff and now he is getting in front of a potential scandal before it happens.
The representative was the head of the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and had access to a trove of classified documents. And in light of the revelations that former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden, and former Vice President Mike Pence had classified documents in their homes, Schiff wants everyone to know that he does not have any.
“This is what’s so astounding, I think, for all of us on the Intelligence Committee. I never take classified documents to my house,” he said during an appearance on MSNBC to host Andrea Mitchell after she inquired if he had ever taken any classified records home. “I don’t know any reason why people would.”
“I am so paranoid when I go into the SCIF and out of the SCIF to make sure I’ve got no electronics on the way in, that I’ve got nothing with me on the way out. I am very, very careful about it, and I would assume that everyone else is, but clearly there’s a problem here,” the representative said.
Schiff said that there is a “systemic problem” and that “this is no longer a problem” that is exclusive to Republicans or Democrats.
The list of people not caught with classified documents that they are not supposed to have is starting to appear shorter than the list of those who have been caught with them.
An attorney for former Vice President Mike Pence has announced that he found classified documents at the Indiana home of the former vice president and has given them to the FBI.
CNN reported: “The FBI and the Justice Department’s National Security Division have launched a review of the documents and how they ended up in Pence’s house in Indiana. The classified documents were discovered at Pence’s new home in Carmel, Indiana, by a lawyer for Pence in the wake of the revelations about classified material discovered in President Joe Biden’s private office and residence, the sources said. The discovery comes after Pence has repeatedly said he did not have any classified documents in his possession.”
After the scandals involving classified documents with President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump the former vice president instructed an attorney of his, who has had security clearances in the past, to conduct a search of his residence for classified documents.
“Pence asked his lawyer to conduct the search of his home out of an abundance of caution, and the attorney began going through four boxes stored at Pence’s house last week, finding a small number of documents with classified markings, the sources said,” CNN reported.
“Pence’s lawyer immediately alerted the National Archives, the sources said. In turn, the Archives informed the Justice Department,” the report said.
“A lawyer for Pence told CNN that the FBI requested to pick up the documents with classified markings that evening, and Pence agreed. Agents from the FBI’s field office in Indianapolis picked up the documents from Pence’s home, the lawyer said,” it said.
The report said a small number of documents were found.
“Vice President Pence was unaware of the existence of sensitive or classified documents at his personal residence,” his attorney Greg Jacob said. “Vice President Pence 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.”
The Department of Justice is considering searching more locations for classified documents after a search of his Wilmington, Delaware home on Friday uncovered more classified material, CBS News reported.
“Justice Department officials are also considering the possibility of conducting other consensual searches at locations linked to Mr. Biden, said the source familiar with the investigation,” the report said.
“DOJ took possession of materials it deemed within the scope of its inquiry, including six items consisting of documents with classification markings and surrounding materials, some of which were from the President’s service in the Senate and some of which were from his tenure as Vice President. DOJ also took for further review personally handwritten notes from the vice-presidential years,” the president’s personal attorney said.
The search was conducted over a 12-hour period on Friday with the approval of the president’s attorneys, unlike the raid on former President Donald Trump’s home.
CNN reported: “Those six items are in addition to materials previously found at Biden’s Wilmington residence and in his private office. The federal search of Biden’s home, while voluntary, marks an escalation of special counsel Robert Hur’s probe into the president’s handling of classified documents and will inevitably draw comparisons to his predecessor, former President Donald Trump – even if the FBI’s search of Trump’s residence was conducted under different circumstances.”
