The U.S. Secret Service has confirmed that the substance found in the White House on Sunday evening, July 3, identified to be cocaine may have been brought in by someone who works there or had authorization to be there.
A Secret Service spokesman said the incident with the illegal drug is under investigation but doesn’t appear to be any significant threat to the West Wing.
“We are going to do our best to identify who may have brought it in,” Anthony Guglielmi, chief of communications for the U.S. Secret Service, told The Epoch Times on July 5.
Mr. Guglielmi said the area where the drug was found is closed to the public. He described it as an area where staff, the media, guests, and others with business in the West Wing gather during the security screening process. Mr. Guglielmi said he could not provide specifics due to security concerns.
While each person who passes through the area is identified, Mr. Guglielmi said it is a busy spot.
“There’s a multitude of individuals who come through this area. It’s an open area for individuals who are authorized to be in the West Wing,” he said.
Mr. Guglielmi said the screening process typically would not include narcotics detection. Still, he said Secret Service agents would be looking for any weak areas that need to be addressed.
“There are very robust screening efforts to identify potential hazards. We’re going to be looking at all aspects,” he said.
The White House will not initially be involved in the investigation but that could change. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the administration would “let the Secret Service do its job” before determining what action it needs to take.
“We will take any action that is appropriate and warranted pending the outcome of the Secret Service [investigation],” Ms. Jean-Pierre told reporters during the weekly White House press briefing.
Ms. Jean-Pierre said the substance was found in an area that is “heavily traveled.”
Bidens Were Away
President Joe Biden and his family were reportedly at Camp David when the substance was found.
Ms. Jean-Pierre said there were tours Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Tours are not scheduled on federal holidays or on days when the White House will host a “significant event,” she said. Mr. Guglielmi confirmed there were tours over the weekend but stressed that the area is not open to the public.
“West Wing tours are limited, extremely limited,” Mr. Guglielmi said.
Ms. Jean-Pierre would not say if Mr. Biden or any of his staff were reviewing the security procedures.
She pointed out that it is up to the Secret Service to handle security. She said the Biden administration will decide how to react once the investigation is complete.
Administration is Confident
“We have confidence that the Secret Service will get to the bottom of this,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said.
Ms. Jean-Pierre took issue with one reporter’s assertion that she appeared unconcerned over a possible security breach.
“The president thinks it’s very important to get to the bottom of this,” she said.
Current front runner for the Republican 2024 presidential nomination, former president Donald Trump, responded to the news on his social media outlet, Truth Social.
“Does anybody really believe that the COCAINE found in the West Wing of the White House, very close to the Oval Office, is for the use of anyone other than Hunter and Joe Biden,” Mr. Trump posted July 5.
The White House was briefly evacuated on Sunday night after the Secret Service found what it described to The Epoch Times only as an “unknown item.”
The discovery of the mysterious substance in the West Wing prompted the dispatch of a Hazmat team as well as the D.C. Fire Department and EMS.
White House Has Drug History
This isn’t the first time that illicit drugs have made their way onto the premises.
Rapper Snoop Dogg told comedian Jimmy Kimmel in 2014 that he smoked marijuana in a White House bathroom.
Former President Jimmy Carter revealed in the documentary “Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President,” that his son Chip smoked “a big fat Austin torpedo” with Willie Nelson on the White House roof in 1980.
Jefferson Airplane singer Grace Slick said in 2011 that she had intended to spike then-President Richard Nixon’s tea with LSD in 1970.
Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.
