Pence vows to ‘clean house’ at Justice Department if elected, citing trust issues

Former Vice President and 2024 candidate Mike Pence said he would “clean house” in federal law enforcement if he was elected president. 

“The American people have lost confidence in the Department of Justice. And if I’m president of the United States on day one, we’re going to clean house on the top floor of the Department of Justice and bring in a whole new group of people,” Pence told The New York Post.

Alongside a wave of new hires at the Justice Department, Pence said the first person he would fire would be FBI Director Christopher Wray.

Pence has previously questioned Justice Department investigations into former President Trump and said that discussions on whether Trump should be pardoned are “premature.”

“The President is entitled to his day in court, he’s entitled to bring a defense, and I want to reserve judgment until he has the opportunity to respond,” he told The Wall Street Journal this week.

Trump was arraigned on 37 felony counts at a Miami courthouse Tuesday alleging that he mishandled classified documents. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Pence also signaled that his relationship with Trump may have faltered since they both left office, telling The New York Post that Trump “was” his friend. Pence faced criticism of the former president’s supporters after he refused to stop the certification of the election during the Jan. 6 insurrection in 2021.