Tipsheet

White House 'Not Assisting' Investigation of Cocaine Found in West Wing

Spencer Brown
Spencer Brown  |  July 05, 2023 4:00 PM

Some speculation about the nature of the "white substance" found in the West Wing of the White House on Sunday evening was put to rest on Wednesday when full lab testing revealed it was, in fact, cocaine. 

Found during what was called a "routine patrol" of the White House, the substance was found in a small bag with a zip closure. The baggie triggered an evacuation of the president's home while first responders began investigating. 

On the scene, the D.C. Fire Department said in a radio transmission that a field test of the substance resulting in a "yellow bar saying cocaine hydrochloride."

So now we know, definitely, that there was cocaine in the West Wing of the White House. What we still don't know is how it got there and to whom it belonged, and it seems like the White House would prefer it stayed that way. 

According to a story from NBC News based on conversations with the usual "anonymous" sources "familiar" with the situation, it "is unclear how long the bag was in the White House" and the "blurry timeline and number of people who walk through the area where the cocaine was found could make it difficult to determine who was responsible for the substance." 

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It seems strange that there would be trouble establishing a timeline given the cocaine was found on a "routine patrol," unless of course the patrols were not all that regular. 

In Wednesday's White House press briefing, Karine Jean-Pierre didn't give any more reasons to believe there was any urgency to get to the bottom of who was bringing illegal drugs into the West Wing and seemed more focus on putting as much distance as possible between the cocaine and the Biden family.

Despite multiple reasonable questions about the cocaine in what was the first briefing since it was found in the White House, Jean-Pierre used her normal reject-and-refer method to brush off questions to the Secret Service which is running point on the investigation. 

"This is under the purview of the Secret Service, so I would have to refer you to the Secret Service on all of this," Jean-Pierre told reporters. But then she shared more, specifically pointing out that "the president and the first lady and their family were not here this weekend." 

Jean-Pierre then repeated some of what NBC News' anonymous source had said about the cocaine: it was found "in a heavily traveled area where many West Wing visitors come through this particular area."

So yes there was cocaine, no Jean-Pierre doesn't want to comment on it, but President Biden and his family were out of town when this happened, and also there's just so many people that pass through there it's hard to say if we'll ever know whose this was.

In another supposedly "no comment" answer, Jean-Pierre explained that there were staff-led tours of the White House over the weekend, including one each on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

While she shared the administration's "confidence" that the Secret Service would "get to the bottom" of who brought cocaine into the West Wing, Jean Pierre refused to "get into hypotheticals" when asked whether the administration would support the prosecution of an individual if they're determined to be the party who brought the drug into the White House. 

To wit, Jean-Pierre's response to a subsequent question did not make it sound like the Biden administration is helping the Secret Service in its investigation. "Look, we're not assisting in anything," she said when asked whether the White House had made anyone available for interviews.

Perhaps drug testing for staff could help in narrowing down a list of potential suspects? Interviews with anyone who can be shown to have entered the West Wing between the previous Secret Service Patrol of the area and the time the cocaine was located? A review of any cameras in the vicinity to narrow down a list of people who could have left the drug behind? It seems like the Secret Service should have a pretty good handle of who enters the White House — and what they bring with them — in order to close in on a potential culprit? 

With the Biden administration apparently "not assisting in anything" while also seemingly trying to put distance between the found cocaine and the Bidens, Secret Service agents seem to have their work cut out for them.