Former US Vice President Mike Pence has described Donald Trump’s recent federal indictment as something that sends a horrid message to the international community.
In an interview with an American broadcaster, Pence said that he “had to tell” the news network that “as someone that has represented the United States on the world stage, as someone who was on the international relations committee for ten years, we’re the gold standard of justice in the world.”
“And to see a former president of the United States be subject to an indictment by the administration of the current president, that he may well be facing again in the future, that sends a terrible message to the wider world,” Pence added.
The former vice president also said that the indictment has “only served to further divide our divided politics,” and that while the charges brought against the former president are “serious,” he wished the Justice Department would find an alternative way to resolve the investigation.
Pence declined to say whether he would pardon Trump if elected president, adding that he does not know why other 2024 Republican presidential candidates “presume” that the former POTUS will be guilty.
He argued that Trump’s indictment could show a “two-tiered” justice system, wondering why Trump was not being treated the same as Democrats.
“I think the proper answer right now, because we have an indictment, and as I said, the allegations are serious, and the proper approach now is for equal treatment under the law. The Department of Justice, I would like to see, bring equal vigor to the investigation into allegations around Hunter Biden,” he said.
While the First Son was initially probed for his financial and business dealings in foreign countries during his father’s stint in the vice presidency under Barack Obama, US prosecutors significantly widened their scope to include Hunter's business associates, their related deals, and the purchase of at least one firearm.
Trump has dubbed his indictment by the Department of Justice as an attempt to damage his chances of returning to the White House as he campaigns for a second term.
“They’ve launched one witch hunt after another to try and stop our movement. They want to do anything they can to thwart the will of the American people. It's called election interference. That's what they're doing now. And we've never seen it on a scale like this. The other side is downright crooked," Trump said in an apparent nod to Democrats and the Biden administration during his first post-indictment public speech in Georgia last Saturday.
Trump added that “the ridiculous and baseless indictment” of him by the Biden administration’s “weaponized Department of Injustice will go down as among the most horrific abuses of power in the history” of the US.
On June 9, the federal indictment against Trump was unsealed, revealing that he was being charged with 37 felony counts, 31 of which were for violating the Espionage Act through his "willful retention" of classified records. The remaining offenses were for false statements and obstruction of justice. The former POTUS vehemently denies all the charges.