Former Vice President and 2024 presidential candidate Mike Pence asked Attorney General Merrick Garland on Saturday to refer to the indictment of former President Donald Trump.

President Trump announced Thursday night that he had been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents. prosecution It was unsealed on Friday, listing 31 suspected Espionage Act violations. The former vice president has “stopped hiding” behind Special Counsel Jack Smith, who conducted a dossier against Garland, who has yet to publicly disclose the details of the charges against Mr. Pence’s former vice presidential candidate. I asked him to explain the charges. .

“Today, I am asking the Attorney General to stand before the American people and explain in his own words why this is necessary,” Pence said in a speech at the North Carolina Republican Convention. . “Merrick Garland, please stop hiding behind the special counsel and stand before the American people and explain why this indictment is proceeding.”

Pence also called on Americans to pray for Trump, his family and our polarized country, and promised to “clean up” the Department of Justice (DOJ) if elected to the White House in 2024. bottom. (Related article: ‘Deeply troubled’: Mike Pence speaks out on Trump indictment)

“Americans have a right to know the reasons for this unprecedented action, and they need to hear the former president’s defense,” Pence said. “Each of us can make our own judgment as to whether this is the latest instance of Justice Department misconduct or not.”

The charges are the result of a multi-year investigation into the former president, linked to a raid on President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in August in which the FBI recovered more than 300 pages of documents. The first indication that an indictment was imminent was on Wednesday when Trump’s lawyers received a letter from federal prosecutors informing them that Trump was under investigation.

The Justice Department on Friday also indicted Trump aide Walter Nauta in connection with the document investigation.Trump’s indictment marks the first time a former U.S. president has been indicted by the federal government, and will continue to do so. appear at 3 p.m. Tuesday in federal court in Miami.

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