Mike Pence Takes a Side on Trump Indictment: 'We Need to Clean House'
Former Vice President Mike Pence said Friday that he was “deeply troubled” that the Department of Justice is proceeding with indictments against former President Donald Trump, under whom he served in the White House.
“After years of politicization at the Justice Department, two-and-a-half years in our administration where we fought against the Russia hoax that the Durham report recently confirmed was an investigation that should never even been started, and then when we saw the collusion between Big Tech and Big Media, and even the FBI to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story going into our investigation, you know, I’m deeply troubled to see this, to see this indictment move forward,” Pence said during an interview with talk show host Hugh Hewitt.
Trump announced Thursday on Truth Social that his attorneys had been told he was being indicted as the result of an investigation into classified documents that were the subject of an Aug. 8 raid on Mar-a-Lago, the Florida estate he owns.
“I think this is going to be terribly divisive for the country,” said Pence, who announced his presidential campaign Wednesday. He will be facing Trump and several other GOP candidates in the 2024 primary race.
“I also think it sends a terrible message to the wider world that looks at America as a standard of not only democracy, but of justice,” the former vice president said.
Most Republican presidential candidates condemned the indictment, while businessman Vivek Ramaswamy said he would pardon Trump if elected.
“I think there’s been literally a collapse of confidence,” Pence said. “Look, we have to have confidence in our institutions in this country. We have to have confidence in the rule of law. We have to be willing to stand on the rule of law.
“And so absolutely, yes. I think we need to clean house across the board at the Justice Department, the FBI.”
He added, “I watched as we learned that FBI agents with political motivations were driving that, and then in the leadup to the 2020 election, I watched at Big Tech and Big Media with the FBI holding the Hunter Biden laptop all manage to completely cover up the reality of what we’re now continuing to see unfurl as more and more evidence of literal corruption in the Biden family.
“And I understand the deep concern of the American people about the politicization of our Justice Department in this country.”
Pence had urged the Justice Department not to indict Trump during a CNN town hall on Wednesday, criticizing the department over the Mar-a-Lago raid.
“I hope the DoJ thinks better of it and resolves these issues without an indictment,” Pence said during the event hosted by Dana Bash.
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