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View Winners → Politics Jun 09, 2023
Mike Pence. | Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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Former Vice President Mike Pence has launched his campaign for the White House, joining a large pool of Republican candidates hoping to unseat ex-President Donald Trump for the 2024 GOP nomination.
But as he hit the campaign trail, Pence struggled to take a clear stance on legal troubles involving his former boss, particularly regarding the Department of Justice’s investigation into Trump’s potential mishandling of classified documents.
During a CNN town hall event in Des Moines, Iowa, Pence addressed the recent breaking news that federal prosecutors had informed Trump’s legal team that he is a target of their investigation, signaling that charges may be imminent. In response, Pence said that he hopes the Justice Department can “move forward” without pressing charges against Trump, but also emphasized the need for “equal treatment under the law.”
“I was very troubled last summer when for the first time in history, there was a search warrant executed at the home of the former president of the United States,” Pence said during the forum. When pressed by moderator Dana Bash on whether an indictment of Trump should move forward if investigators believe there is enough evidence to do so, Pence couldn’t commit to what he had just said.
“I would just hope that there would be a way for them to move forward without the dramatic and divisive step of indicting a former president of the United States,” Pence said. He added that he doesn’t think Trump should be the next Republican nominee, declaring during the town hall that “anyone who puts themselves over the Constitution should never be president of the United States.”
Pence’s comments came hours after multiple news outlets reported that prosecutors had alerted Trump’s legal team of their investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents discovered in his Mar-a-Lago home. Pence also found himself in the spotlight recently when the Justice Department alerted his legal team that its investigation into classified documents found in his possession from his time as vice president was coming to a close.
In contrast to his handling of the Trump investigation, Pence has been quick to denounce the Justice Department’s actions involving his own alleged mishandling of classified information. In January, a small number of classified documents were found at Pence’s Indiana home, prompting a federal investigation. But last week, the Justice Department cleared Pence of any wrongdoing.
However, the Justice Department’s probe into classified materials discovered at President Joe Biden’s former office, as well as his home in Delaware, is still ongoing. Both Biden and Pence cooperated fully in returning the documents to the National Archives, but the investigation into how the materials ended up in their possession continues.
As the presidential race heats up, Pence’s handling of the Trump investigation could prove a sticking point for Republican voters. While Pence has called for “equal treatment under the law,” he has also expressed hope that Trump could avoid indictment, leaving several key questions unanswered.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding Trump’s legal troubles, Pence remains the commanding front-runner in the latest Republican primary polls, according to several media outlets, including Newsweek and Fox News Digital. But with months to go until the primaries, the race remains a fluid one, with several other candidates vying for a chance at the party’s nomination.
As the campaign season progresses, Republicans are keen to maintain a united front, but the specter of ongoing investigations into Trump and other party members threatens to undermine that effort.
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