Pence says he did not leave White House with classified material

Amid ongoing controversy in which former President Donald Trump is facing claims of having taken classified material from the White House when he departed, former Vice President Michael Pence on Friday said that he personally did not take any classified documents when he left the executive residence in January of 2021. 

“No, not to my knowledge," Pence said when asked by the Associated Press if he had taken secret material from the White House when leaving it roughly a year and a half ago.

The former vice executive additionally urged forbearance on speculation regarding the alleged documents found at Trump's Mar-a-Lago house earlier this month. “I honestly don’t want to prejudge it before until we know all the facts," he told the news wire. 

Trump himself has likewise denied violating any statutes regarding classified material upon his departure from the White House.

The former president's Florida residence was the subject of an FBI raid earlier this month regarding alleged secret documents there, leading to both praise from Trump's critics and criticism from his fellow Republicans as well as civil rights commentators and experts.