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Guests are required to go through security screening before entering the White House complex and then are asked to leave their phones in small boxes just before entering the West Wing. Officers found the cocaine during a routine patrol, a Secret Service official said. 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. The cocaine was found in an entrance area between the foyer and a lower-level lobby, the sources said.
Secret Service: Powdery substance found at White House was cocaine
The substance had tested positive for cocaine on a preliminary field test, the official familiar with the investigation said Tuesday, and the formal lab test confirmed that result. He and his family were at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, not the White House, when the cocaine was discovered. The U.S. Secret Service said it is closing its investigation into a bag of cocaine that was left in the White House on July 2 while the Biden family was away, the agency said in a statement. The U.S. Secret Service has closed its investigation into a small bag of cocaine found just inside a different entrance to the building. 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.
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The Secret Service led the investigation into how the cocaine ended up at the White House and said as part of its review, it would look over surveillance footage and entrance logs to determine who had access to the area where it was found. The agency said there was no surveillance footage found that provided investigative leads or other ways for investigators to identify who the cocaine belonged to. A preliminary field test by the DC fire department indicated the substance was cocaine. Authorities are analyzing visitor logs from Sunday as well as looking for any surveillance video that may be available.
Secret Service probe ends after cocaine found at the White House
Secret Service closes investigation into cocaine found at White House with no suspect identified - CBS News
Secret Service closes investigation into cocaine found at White House with no suspect identified.
Posted: Thu, 13 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
All White House visitors must submit personal information to the Secret Service, including their Social Security number and date of birth. 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. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre described the location as “highly traveled,” saying, “West Wing visitors come through this particular area.” She said staff-led tours were held Friday, Saturday and Sunday before the drug was found. 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.
Tests later showed the powder was cocaine, according to reputable news publications. Lawmakers who attended the briefing confirmed that the Secret Service's investigation will conclude with no determination of who the cocaine belonged to, leaving Republicans exasperated and with more questions. A Secret Service review of visitor logs and surveillance cameras will seek to determine how the cocaine, described as being in a small, zippered bag, came to be in the executive mansion. White House staffers are authorized to give guests tours of the West Wing, which often occur at night or on weekends.
Probe into cocaine found at White House closes with no suspect - Al Jazeera English
Probe into cocaine found at White House closes with no suspect.
Posted: Thu, 13 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
"This is one of the most secure locations in the world, some of the best law enforcement officers in the world. And they don't have any answers." The president was briefed on the incident, and the discovery of the cocaine prompted questions from Republicans in the House. Oversight Committee chairman James Comer said last week his panel will assess the White House's security practices, and the Secret Service on Thursday provided a closed-door briefing for the committee. CBS News, citing law enforcement sources, reported that the cocaine was found in a facility used by White House staff and guests to store phones.
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That’s Trump himself, of course, but also Cohen, who would represent the campaign publicly and discussed campaign strategy with Trump. Cohen and a representative of Trump’s campaign (later revealed to be Trump) met with David Pecker — then chairman of American Media Inc. and publisher of the National Enquirer — in August 2015. Pecker offered to help the campaign by buying stories that would reflect negatively on Trump and then burying them.
Secret Service probes how a small bag of cocaine got into the White House
In a statement describing the events surrounding the cocaine's discovery, which began July 2, the Secret Service said as part of its review, it compiled a list of "several hundred" people who may have accessed the area where the substance was discovered. But no fingerprints could be found on the cocaine's packaging and there was "insufficient DNA" for "investigative comparisons," the Secret Service said. Law enforcement officials cautioned that because the area where the cocaine was discovered is so highly trafficked, it may be difficult to determine who was responsible for bringing the drug into the White House.
The Secret Service is not ruling out any White House personnel, guests or visitors. At this point, one leading theory is that the bag was brought in by an individual on a White House tour of the West Wing, according to senior law enforcement officials briefed on the matter. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Biden has been briefed on the incident and noted the area where the cocaine was discovered is "heavily traveled" by visitors. When the unknown powdered substance was discovered, sections of the White House were evacuated as the Washington Fire Department was called to the scene and performed a field test that identified the substance as cocaine. The sample was sent to the Department of Homeland Security’s National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center at Fort Detrick, Maryland, the Secret Service statement said. That testing confirmed it was cocaine and determined it was not a biological threat like anthrax or ricin.
The investigation included a methodical review of security systems and protocols. This review included a backwards examination that spanned several days prior to the discovery of the substance and developed an index of several hundred individuals who may have accessed the area where the substance was found. The focal point of these actions developed a pool of known persons for comparison of forensic evidence gleaned from the FBI’s analysis of the substance's packaging. Secret Service Uniformed Division found an unknown substance inside a vestibule leading to the lobby area of the West Executive Avenue entrance to the White House. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., sent a letter Wednesday asking Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to release information about where the cocaine was found.
"At this time, the Secret Service's investigation is closed due to a lack of physical evidence." Still, its discovery set off rounds of questions for the White House, including about its security protocols and who had access to the area where the substance was found. White House press secretary Karine-Jean Pierre said the space is "heavily traveled" by staff and visitors, including those taking tours.
Perhaps this could be an argument made against such charges, albeit a dubious one. After all, Cohen recorded a September 2016 conversation with Trump in which they discussed the McDougal case and, in another context, the need to bury negative information until after Election Day. Some on the right have argued that the payment to Daniels didn’t violate campaign-finance law. Earlier this month, Trump shared on social media a 2023 article written by the National Review’s Andrew McCarthy, making that case. Already, you can see that this is an offer to benefit the campaign that involved coordination with agents of the campaign; that is, with people empowered to act on the campaign’s behalf.
The probe could take about two weeks, and officials caution that there may not be a resolution if no forensic material is found to identify someone. NBC reported the "blurry timeline" could make it difficult for investigators to identify a source. Additionally, investigators were considering the high volume of people who walk through the area. The claim that the cocaine was found in the White House library was bolstered by initial reports stating the substance was found in a library, citing a dispatch call to D.C. Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi told The New York Times that the dispatch call was incorrect.
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