The “Morning Joe” panel reacted to both former vice president Mike Pence and President Joe Biden’s classified documents scandals Wednesday.
According to two letters Pence’s counsel sent to the National Archives, a “small number” of classified documents were discovered last week at Pence’s Indiana home. On Jan. 16, about a dozen documents were found at Pence’s home, and two days later, his team notified the National Archives, who then notified the Justice Department. FBI agents retrieved the documents from Pence’s home, and his team turned over additional boxes to the National Archives, as well.
“He did all the right things,” Joe Scarborough said, hinting that former president Donald Trump is the only one who is mishandling his classified documents scandal, since he hid the classified documents, fought releasing them, fought returning them, entered long-term negotiations and possibly obstructed justice.
“Pence only shines a brighter light on Trump, Biden only shines a brighter light on Trump,” Scarborough said. “What Mike Pence did and what Joe Biden did are what law abiding citizens would do.”
He continued: “All of this, while embarassing for Pence and Biden, actually makes it even more clear how Donald Trump willfully held onto documents.”
The panel differentiated between the three politicians, pointing out that in the case of Pence and Biden, there isn’t an obstruction of justice in question.
“In terms of politics, this discovery [is] embarassing for Pence and Biden, [but] legally perilous for Trump,” co-host Jonathan Lemire added.
The “Morning Joe” panel continued to discuss how the process of leaving the White House should be handled, since politicians continue to exit with classified documents.
“There seems to be a step missing,” co-host Mika Brzezinski said.
Though some of the documents turn out to be public information, the “Morning Joe” panel predict that there will just be more discoveries similar to that of Pence, Biden and Trump.
“Don’t take classified documents home,” Scarborough said. “I served on the Armed Services Committee for years,” Scarborough said. “I never said, ‘Hey, I think I’m going to take home this file and put it in my storage and let it sit there for decades.’ You just don’t do it.”
Watch the full “Morning Joe” segment in the video above.
