On Wednesday, July 5, US Secret Service confirmed following a lab check that the white substance discovered on the White House on Sunday was certainly cocaine.
On Sunday, July 2, the powder was present in a transparent plastic bag by Secret Service officers within the West Wing entry space throughout a routine White House sweep.
According to a legislation enforcement official, the cocaine was not found on the bottom (as a number of media reviews claimed), however in a cubby the place guests getting into the West Wing are requested to go away their telephones. Staff who’re unable to convey their telephones into an SCIF, or a delicate compartmented data facility, the place categorised supplies are dealt with, may also use these cubbies.
The West Wing entry space is claimed to be a closely trafficked space which suggests that it’s extremely unlikely that the supply of the drug could possibly be decided. The probabilities of discovering the perpetrator are additionally fairly slim.
A basic view of the West Wing within the White House (Image by way of Reuters)
On the query of discovering the perpetrator, an official advised Politico, “It is going to be very difficult for us to do that because of where it was. Even if there were surveillance cameras, unless you were waving it around, it may not have been caught by the cameras. It’s a bit of a thoroughfare. People walk by there all the time.”
When requested concerning the incident on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre emphasised that the investigation is underneath the purview of the Secret Service and acknowledged that she is “confident” they may resolve it.
The White House “is subject to rigorous guidelines that include drug testing, and so we will take any action that is appropriate and warranted, pending the outcome of the Secret Service,” Jean-Pierre mentioned, including that she wouldn’t “get into hypotheticals.”
Karine Jean-Pierre repeatedly refuses to reply questions on the cocaine discovered within the West Wing.
“Can you explain why you can’t explain it?” pic.twitter.com/OSgnE09HCQ
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 5, 2023
The press secretary additionally mentioned that President Joe Biden who returned from a weekend vacation has been briefed concerning the state of affairs.
“The president thinks it’s very important to get to the bottom of this,” Jean-Pierre mentioned
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Tom Cotton, senator from Arkansas, wrote to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, looking for details about the place the cocaine was found. He additionally requested solutions by July 14 to his six questions regarding entry to the White House, different cases of unlawful medicine being discovered within the advanced, and safety procedures.
Congress and the American individuals should understand how cocaine bought into the White House. pic.twitter.com/Fps9AJ6hSQ
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) July 5, 2023
“If the White House complex is not secure, Congress needs to know the details, as well as your plan to correct any security flaws,” Cotton acknowledged in his letter.
On Sunday night time, round 6 PM, a Secret Service division officer in uniform found cocaine. Because the officer was unaware of what the substance was, the White House’s safety was briefly elevated. The District of Columbia Fire Department was known as, and the substance was decided to be “non-hazardous”, and despatched to a central lab for additional testing.
