The U.S. Secret Service has stated that the substance found in the White House on 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 couldn’t provide specifics due to security concerns.
Although each person who passes through the area is identified, Mr. Guglielmi said it’s 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 usually wouldn’t 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.
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 on June 30, July 1, and July 2 before the substance was found on July 3. Tours aren’t 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 isn’t open to the public.
“West Wing tours are limited, extremely limited,” Mr. Guglielmi said.
Ms. Jean-Pierre wouldn’t say whether Mr. Biden or any of his staff were reviewing the security procedures.
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.
The current front-runner for the Republican 2024 presidential nomination, former president Donald Trump, responded to the news on his social media outlet, Truth Social.
The White House was briefly evacuated on the night of July 2 after the Secret Service found what it described to The Epoch Times only as an “unknown item.”
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,” referring to marijuana, with Willie Nelson on the White House roof in 1980.
Jefferson Airplane singer Grace Slick said in 2011 that she had intended to spike former President Richard Nixon’s tea with LSD in 1970.
