Secret Service ends White House cocaine investigation with no leads

Table Of Content

• Secret Service Examining How Suspected Cocaine Ended Up at the White House
• Why the Secret Service closed its investigation of cocaine found at the White House without conducting interviews
• Secret Service investigating suspected cocaine found inside White House complex
• White House cocaine incident
• US Secret Service investigating as cocaine reportedly found in White House

The Secret Service investigation has concluded with no usable forensic or video evidence identifying the person responsible, three Secret Service officials familiar with the investigation said. As the investigation continued, many posts claimed without evidence that the cocaine belonged to Hunter Biden, who previously discussed being addicted to crack cocaine in a 2021 memoir. According to the AP, the president and his family — including Hunter Biden — left for Camp David, a presidential retreat in the Catoctin Mountain Park near Thurmont, Maryland, on June 30, 2023. According to the AP, Secret Service agents discovered the substance while doing a routine security scan of the building. NBC reported the drug was in a small, zippered bag, and that it was unclear how long it had been in the White House. In reality, the cocaine was discovered in a common area of the West Wing, according to several reputable publications, including AP and CBS News.

Secret Service Examining How Suspected Cocaine Ended Up at the White House

Authorities are trying to determine how the substance got into the White House after a Secret Service agent found the powder during a routine sweep of the premises. The West Wing is the administrative heart of the presidency and includes the Oval Office, the offices of executive staff, the Cabinet Room, the Roosevelt Room, and the press briefing room. The British actor Erkan Mustafa said he smoked marijuana and did a line of cocaine on a visit to the White house during first lady Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” anti-drugs campaign. The Jefferson Airplane singer Grace Slick said in 2011 she’d tried and failed to spike President Richard Nixon’s tea with LSD in 1970. The small plastic envelope was found in an area of the West Wing that visitors and staff members often pass through during the day. When staff members want to bring relatives or friends on tours of the West Wing, they usually do so at night and on the weekends.

Why the Secret Service closed its investigation of cocaine found at the White House without conducting interviews

Photos show cocaine found inside White House complex in July - ABC News

Photos show cocaine found inside White House complex in July.

Posted: Tue, 14 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

According to Reuters, the West Wing includes the Oval Office, cabinet room and work space for presidential staff. The Secret Service told The Post that the agency “does not comment on an active investigation,” with spokesman Anthony Guglielmi later saying in a statement that further tests will be conducted to confirm that the substance is indeed cocaine. "The DC fire department was called to evaluate and quickly determined the item to be non-hazardous. The item was sent for further evaluation and an investigation into the cause and manner of how it entered the White House is pending," he said. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., sent a letter Wednesday asking Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to release information about where the cocaine was found. He also asked half a dozen questions about access to the White House, other instances of illegal drugs' being found in the complex and security procedures, requesting answers by July 14. The bag containing the cocaine remains in a federal laboratory, where it will be tested for DNA and fingerprints, the official said.

Secret Service investigating suspected cocaine found inside White House complex

Gugliemi said the small amount of cocaine, 208 milligrams or about .007 ounce, would only result in a misdemeanor charge in the District of Columbia and the agency determined that did not warrant the expenditure of resources it would take to interview 500 people. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., sent a letter Wednesday asking Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle for more information about the investigation. Secret Service officials say they have received the letter and will respond. President Joe Biden and his family were at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, not the White House, when officers discovered the cocaine.

White House cocaine incident

Testing conducted by the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department indicated that the found powder tested preliminarily positive for the presence of cocaine. The substance and packaging were treated as evidence and sent to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center, which analyzed the item for any biothreats. Tests conducted at this facility came back negative and gave formal confirmation that the substance was not biological in nature.

"A small water bottle (nicely labeled 'water') is on the floor," he writes of one picture. "This water would be mixed with heroin and heated with lighter in a metal bottle cap from a 40oz bottle of malt liquor. The mixture is then injected." The pictures offer a pretty stunning glimpse into a world many people never visit--a vacant building where addicts hang out, get high, and figure out where their next hit is coming from. Judging by the photos, it's also where they go to eat takeout, drink soda, play cards, read magazines... Ark Behavioral Health offers 100% confidential substance abuse assessment and treatment placement tailored to your individual needs.

If an officer encounters a powder or substance on White House grounds or in surrounding areas, they routinely request the assistance of D.C. White House staffers frequently give guests tours of the West Wing, often at night and over the weekend. Guests must pass through security before entering the White House complex and then are asked to leave phones in small cubbies. "The physiological and psychoactive effects of cocaine are similar regardless of whether it is in the form of cocaine hydrochloride or crack cocaine (cocaine base)," the study says. Jean-Pierre reiterated that the cocaine was found in a heavily traveled area that visitors often transit and noted that staff-sponsored tours were held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. "The president thinks it's very important to get to the bottom of this," Jean-Pierre said in response to a question about how determined Biden is to uncover who brought drugs into the White House.

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On Sunday, the person said, prompting a brief shutdown of some of the White House campus as response workers assessed whether the substance was hazardous. The Secret Service on Thursday announced it had closed its investigation into who left a small packet of cocaine in the White House without finding the culprit, and a spokesman for the agency told NBC News it did so without conducting interviews. The sources maintain that the area is highly trafficked, in keeping with Jean-Pierre's characterization Wednesday. The area is transited by VIPs, visitors, tourists, staff members, military officials and facilities operations employees. Forensic work on the cocaine bag continued Thursday, though officials are setting low expectations that they will be able to identify who left it. Some crack houses specialize in crack production, some specialize in crack distribution, and some specialize in both.

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There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. Rumors circulated in April that Hunter Biden may have been crashing at the White House for a time to avoid being served with court papers by the mother of his love child. In September 2020, letters containing ricin, a lethal substance, were mailed to the Trump White House but were intercepted by investigators before reaching the residence. The Secret Service concluded its investigation into cocaine found in the West Wing of the White House after just 11 days without identifying a suspect. "The item was sent for further evaluation and an investigation into the cause and manner of how it entered the White House is pending," the Secret Service said. On Wednesday, he met with the Swedish prime minister in the Oval Office and did not respond to a question a reporter shouted about the incident.

"Where this was discovered is a heavily traveled area where many White House -- West Wing, I should be even more specific, West Wing visitors come through this particular area," Jean-Pierre said. The “unknown item” found in the West Wing that forced a brief evacuation of the White House Sunday night and drew a hazmat team to the executive mansion initially tested positive for cocaine, according to officials and a dispatch call made that evening. A person familiar with the investigation said that the baggie was found near an area where guests are screened for security and leave their phones in small cubbies. The Secret Service would not say where exactly the substance was found in the lobby or whether the agency was working with the White House to review guest logs. People familiar with the investigation say that the area is frequented so often by so many groups of people that it may be hard to find the person who left the baggie.

In other cases, they are mixed with the drug just to bulk up the weight or appearance, so the dealer can sell them at a higher price to people who think they are getting more crack. If you or someone you love struggles with crack cocaine addiction, please reach out to an Ark Behavioral Health specialist to learn about our comprehensive treatment programs. At the time of publication, there was no credible evidence to link the drug found in the White House to any individual or group, much less the president's son. News publications like CNN, The Hill, and the AP reported officials were working to identify who was responsible for bringing the substance into the federal building. We found social media posts that claimed the cocaine was found in various places around the White House, such as the above-displayed Facebook post that claimed it was found in an area where President Biden often worked.