Former Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday he cannot defend “what is alleged” in the federal indictment against former President Donald Trump over classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, but he also pledged to clean house at the Department of Justice.
Mr. Pence, a 2024 GOP presidential candidate, reacted to the charges by saying, “No one is above the law.”
“This indictment contains serious charges. I cannot defend what is alleged,” he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “Creating an opportunity where highly classified material could have fallen into the wrong hands, even inadvertently, that jeopardizes our national security, it puts at risk the men and women of our armed forces.”
“The former president has a right to make his case in court,” Mr. Pence said.
At the same time, he said, the American people have lost confidence in the Department of Justice over its decision not to charge former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server and the “hailstorm” of investigations into the Trump administration over alleged connections to Russia.
“Tens of millions of Americans have a sense of a two-tiered system of justice, and I think it cries out for new leadership,” Mr. Pence said.
He said one of the first things he would do as president is “clean house” at the Justice Department and bring in people who are respected on both sides of the aisle.