Former Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday he couldn’t defend the criminal allegations against Donald Trump, his former boss and current campaign rival, in a federal indictment charging the ex-president with mishandling classified documents.
Pence nevertheless echoed the notion of a “two-tiered” justice system that Trump and his allies have pushed as they seek to undermine the prosecutors pursuing the unprecedented case against the previous president.
“This indictment accommodates serious charges, and I cannot defend what’s alleged,” Pence said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 37 counts related to his alleged mishandling of classified records, tons of of which were stored at his Mar-a-Lago resort home after he left the White House in 2021. Trump is charged with willfully retaining national defense information, conspiracy to obstruct justice, concealing documents and making false statements.
After his arraignment in Miami, Trump traveled to his Recent Jersey golf club to deliver a campaign-style speech and host a fundraiser that raked in only over $2 million, in accordance with a Trump campaign aide.
Pence’s remarks on CNBC come one week after he entered the 2024 Republican primary race, where polls show Trump has maintained a major lead despite his mounting legal troubles. Pence fell out with Trump after he refused to help the previous president’s efforts to overturn his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden. The choice eroded Pence’s standing within the GOP, which has largely stuck by Trump whilst he continues to falsely insist the 2020 race was rigged against him.
Pence’s campaign kickoff speech criticized Trump in occasionally forceful terms but still sought to champion the agenda that they passed together within the White House. His remarks about Trump’s latest criminal indictment attempted to walk a similarly advantageous line.
“The handling of classified materials is a really serious matter,” Pence said, but “the previous president has a right to his day in court.”
“I am unable to consider that politics didn’t play some role here,” Pence added. “If I even have the privilege to be president of the US, we’ll clean house on the Department of Justice. We’re going to seek out men and ladies who’re universally respected by each political parties, and we’ll restore public confidence and equal treatment under the law.”
Pence reiterated his call for brand spanking new leadership and imbued his thoughts on Trump’s indictment with campaign rhetoric.
“Two things will be true without delay,” he said, explaining that while he is not going to defend the “serious” charges against Trump, it “doesn’t change the incontrovertible fact that tens of hundreds of thousands of Americans have a way of a two-tiered system of justice.”
He referenced the investigation of Hillary Clinton within the run-up to the 2016 election, asserting that former FBI Director James Comey “excused very similar behavior” by the then-Democratic nominee. Pence also pointed to the investigation of Russian election meddling by former special counsel Robert Mueller and alleged suppression of data about Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.
Legal experts have argued that Trump’s case, which involves alleged violations of the Espionage Act and alleged conspiracy to obstruct the federal government, differs significantly from other instances of politicians holding onto records after leaving office.
Trump’s federal indictment has spurred quite a lot of reactions from his Republican primary rivals.
Pence’s stance contrasts sharply with remarks earlier Wednesday morning from former Recent Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who was also once a federal prosecutor. Christie is a more vocal Trump critic who said that the GOP leader’s post-arraignment speech in Recent Jersey shows that he “doesn’t care concerning the American people.”
“This next administration of Donald Trump as president shall be all about retribution for him personally,” Christie said on Fox News.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, meanwhile, has opted to say little about Trump’s criminal case since his arraignment.
Vivek Ramaswamy, a long-shot candidate for the GOP nomination, has already vowed to pardon Trump if elected. He appeared outside the Miami courthouse on Tuesday to call on the remaining of the first field to make an analogous pledge.
Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who has issued quite a few reactions to the indictment, said Tuesday that she can be “inclined in favor of a pardon” for Trump if she became president.
— CNBC’s Brian Schwartz contributed reporting.