Former Vice President Mike Pence commented Friday on the federal indictment of his old boss and current rival for the Republican presidential nomination, former President Donald Trump.
Pence called on the indictment to be unsealed Friday. A short time later, the Department of Justice did just that, outlining the charges against Trump. You can read the full 49-page document here.
"The American people have a right to know what's in that indictment and they have a right to know today," Pence said earlier Friday.
Pence was speaking as he campaigned for president in New Hampshire on Friday morning, following Trump's historic indictment, his second since the administration left the White House.
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Trump is facing seven charges in connection with a special council investigation, after a federal grand jury indicted the former president in the handling of more than 100 classified documents. The documents were discovered in his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida last year.
Trump is due to appear in court Tuesday, when further details about the allegations against the former president are likely to be revealed, but Pence called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to reveal those details on Friday "explain the reasons for this unprecedented indictment of the former president of the United States."
He said at the LaBelle Winery Event Center in Derry that he was troubled that the Department of Justice brought the indictment against Trump, figuring "it would only further divide our nation" and send a dubious message to the world, for which the U.S. serves as "an emblem of justice."
But he urged voters to remember bedrock American principles: that no one is above the law and Americans accused of crimes are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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Pence also noted that he cooperated with a Justice Department review of classified files found at his home, just as President Joe Biden did: "I took full responsibility and I was pleased the Department of Justice concluded it was an innocent mistake — but it was a mistake. We must secure our nation's secrets."
Before the indictment, Pence hadn't supported charges against Trump. Even in March, when an indictment was returned in New York against Trump, Pence called it an "outrage."
But he also reiterated previous criticism of Trump for pushing to overturn the election results on Jan. 6, 2021. Pence was one of the people targeted by the rioters who participated in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol as the vice president oversaw the certification of the 2020 election.
Pence said he had no right to overturn the election then, just as "Kamala Harris will have no right to overturn the election when I beat them in 2024."
Outside the event, a small group of Trump supporters was gathered. They referred to Pence as a traitor to an NBC News reporter.
