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Former Vice President Mike Pence declined to answer a question from the independent about whether he had read the indictment against former President Donald Trump as he left the North Carolina Republican Party convention on Saturday.
Pence was leaving the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro after speaking at the convention for his first free lunch and was taking a selfie with a supporter. Her staff said “no babbling” when asked if the former vice president had read the indictment.
This came despite the fact that, during his speech, he criticized the grand jury impeachment of Trump as politicized.
“I was hopeful that the Department of Justice would see a clear path to resolve issues related to the former president without an indictment and I am deeply concerned to see this indictment move forward,” he said.
Pence said he had been one of the first people to call US Attorney General Merrick Garland to unseal the allegation.
“Today I am asking the attorney general to stand before the American people and explain why this was necessary in his own words,” Pence said. “Attorney General Merrick Garland, stop hiding behind the special counsel and stand before the American people and explain why this prosecution was pursued.”
A grand jury under the supervision of special counsel Jack Smith decided to indict Trump. The 49-page unsealed indictment showed that Trump faced 37 charges.
Trump was charged with “serious violations of our national security laws, as well as engaging in conspiracy to obstruct justice” by a grand jury in the Southern District of Florida.
The indictment accuses Trump of showing classified documents to unauthorized persons at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club on two occasions, once with a writer and editor working on a book by his former chief of staff Mark Meadows and another time. The time when he showed a classified map of an unnamed country that involved staff working for Mr. Trump’s political action committee.