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Marc Short, a top aide to former Vice President Mike Pence, is wary of the FBI investigation into former President Donald Trump's handling of White House records and the legal team defending the former president.

Like many Republicans, Short believes a politicized FBI acted with harsh law enforcement tactics to obtain records in Trump's possession while former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received comparatively lenient treatment during the 2016 investigation of her email server.

"Hillary Clinton was wrong to transfer those documents and President Trump likely should not have been in possession of those documents. I don't think that's too far of a stretch for a rational person to say," Short said. "How do we move to a position where we're actually having a raid on the former president's home?...I think there has to be continued transparency on the part of DOJ here."

The Justice Department's filing on Tuesday indicated investigators made several efforts to retrieve documents from Trump's Mar-a-Lago home through less intrusive means, but later learned there were more records, although a Trump attorney affirmed a "diligent" sweep of the estate had been completed.

Short told CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett on "The Takeout" Wednesday that the ex-president is being ill-served by his legal counsel. "I think one of the more troubling aspects of disclosures (on Tuesday) was misrepresentations by the president's lawyers in documents to the FBI. And there's a big difference between playing a lawyer on TV and actually being the sound lawyer advising the former president." Short noted the president has since expanded his legal team,adding former Florida solicitor general Chris Kise.

Before serving as Pence's chief of staff, Short was the top White House liaison to Capitol Hill under Trump. He participated in several classified briefings with the then-president and did not consider Trump "reckless" with sensitive documents.

Short said there was a process for White House staff "that you signed out and returned" classified material so there was a paper trail.

When Pence left the White House, Short said White House lawyers returned classified documents to their proper place and all other materials were sent to the archives. "I have no knowledge of (Pence) being in possession of any of those documents upon his completion of service," Short said.

Short still works alongside the former vice president and said if Pence decides to run for president in 2024, he won't announce a campaign until next year. Pence will spend the next several months campaigning for likeminded Republicans ahead of the midterms. His memoir, published by a division of ViacomCBS, is scheduled for release on Nov. 15.

Pence and Short were together on Jan. 6, 2021 during the Capitol riot. They took refuge in a parking lot beneath the complex and refused to evacuate, amid mob calls to "Hang Mike Pence" and false presidential claims that Pence could somehow overturn the 2020 election results.

Short said Trump and Pence had some "reconciliatory conversations" following Jan. 6, but those ended in 2021 because the former president continued to assert Pence "had some extraordinary power to overturn an election."

Whether Pence runs in 2024, Short said, won't depend on whether Trump is a declared candidate.

Executive producer: Arden Farhi

Producers: Jamie Benson, Jacob Rosen, Sara Cook and Eleanor Watson

CBSN Production: Eric SoussaninShow email:TakeoutPodcast@cbsnews.comTwitter:@TakeoutPodcastInstagram:@TakeoutPodcastFacebook:Facebook.com/TakeoutPodcast

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Pence aide Marc Short wary of FBI investigation into Trump's handling of White House records "The Takeout" - CBS News