Tipsheet

Did You Catch What the Secret Service Said About Other Drugs Found at the Biden White House?

Spencer Brown
Spencer Brown  |  July 14, 2023 12:45 PM

Well, the case of the White House cocaine whodunit is "closed," with no suspects identified or conclusions offered at the end of a speedy investigation by the United States Secret Service. Conveniently, as Katie reported earlier this week, there were no fingerprints or DNA found on the baggie of cocaine found just steps away from the Situation Room, and "no surveillance video footage found that provided investigative leads or any other means for investigators to identify who may have deposited the found substance," according to Secret Service. 

As if that inconclusive conclusion — one that's already drawing skepticism from lawmakers — wasn't frustrating enough, the Secret Service also confirmed that the cocaine found in the West Wing was not the first time drugs were found in the White House during the Biden administration's tenure, adding even more questions to a growing list about who is working in or visiting the White House and in what condition are Biden's aides supposedly running the country. 

According to a statement given to The New York Post, the Secret Service Uniformed Division confirmed that: 

"[S]mall amounts of marijuana were found on two occasions in 2022 (June and September), at a check point. No one was arrested in these incidents because the weight of the marijuana confiscated did not meet the legal threshold for federal charges or DC misdemeanor criminal charges as the District of Columbia had decriminalized possession. The marijuana was collected by officers and destroyed.

Notably, these drug discoveries predating cocainegate were not disclosed to lawmakers or the public until this week.  

Naturally, lawmakers including Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) want answers.

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It's also notable that the found marijuana was kept quiet given the Biden administration's previous attitude toward the drug. As the Post reminded:

In March 2021, five members of President Biden’s staff were fired for past marijuana use, with one terminated staffer claiming to the Daily Beast that the White House’s policy on cannabis use was “exclusively targeting younger staff and staff who came from states where it was legal.”

The use, sale and possession of marijuana remains illegal under federal law, which covers the White House and much of official Washington, despite the District of Columbia legalizing the possession of up to two ounces by residents 21 and over for recreational or medicinal use in 2015.