Mike Pence Calls Garland’s Special Counsel ‘Very Troubling,’ Cites Years of DOJ ‘Politicization’ in Trump Defense

Mike Pence took a break from discussing his frictions with Donald Trump this week to defend him after Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to oversee criminal probes into the former president.

Former Justice Department official Jack Smith was appointed special counsel by Garland, who cited Trump’s announcement he is running for president again as a reason for Smith’s involvement.

“The appointment of a special counsel is very troubling,” Pence told Fox News Digital in reaction to the news. “No one is above the law, but I am not sure it’s against the law to take bad advice from your lawyers.”

Pence questioned the appointment of a special counsel only days after Trump’s 2024 announcement.

“The timing of this decision — just a few short days after the president announced his intention to seek reelection, I think that the history of it, the facts that I am aware of behind it, I think it is very troubling,” he said.

Trump is being investigated for his handling of classified documents, as well as his actions leading up to the January 6 Capitol riot.

Pence cited “years of politicization” at the Justice Department as the reason for his concern.

“There have been disclosed FBI agents falsifying documents, the FBI using a Clinton campaign-funded opposition research document to support two and a half years of the Russia hoax,” the former vice president said.

Pence took specific issue with the FBI raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property to obtain classified documents the former president allegedly mishandled.

“There were many more opportunities — short of executing a search warrant on the personal residence of the president of the United States to resolve the issues of classified documents that were present there,” Pence said.

Pence has been busy promoting his new book So Help Me God and discussing the lower points in his relationship to Trump, even accusing the former president of endangering him and his family on January 6.