Former Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday on CNBC he could not “defend what is alleged” against former President Donald Trump.
Trump was arrested by the Biden Administration Tuesday, with deputy marshals booking the former president and co-defendant Walt Nauta at a federal courthouse in Miami before both men were taken for fingerprints and processing. Trump plead not guilty to all charges.
Pence joined “Squawk Box” where he discussed the arrest.
Pence agreed that there is a two-tiered system of justice, saying that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton engaged “in this kind of behavior with regard to classified materials” and was given “a pass in 2016.”
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“None of that changes the facts, though, that the handling of classified materials is a very serious matter, not only for my years as vice president, but also my years on the international relations committee and, look, I had the chance to review the indictment over the weekend and this indictment contains serious charges and I cannot defend what is alleged,” Pence said. (RELATED: ‘Folks In The Control Room’: Jake Tapper Melts Down, Tells Producers To Cut Away From Smiling Trump)
“No one is above the law,” Pence said. “This indictment contains serious charges. I cannot defend what is alleged…The very prospect that highly classified material could have fallen into the wrong hand even inadvertently jeopardizes our national security. The former president has a right to his day in court.”
Trump was charged Thursday with 31 counts of alleged violations of the Espionage Act or the willful retention of national security information as well as one count of “conspiracy to obstruct justice,” one count of “withholding a document or record,” one count of “corruptly concealing a document or record,” one count of “concealing a document in a deferral investigation,” one count of “scheme to conceal” and one count of “false statements and representations.”