Secret Service closes investigation into cocaine found at White House with no suspect identified

Table Of Content

• Secret Service closes White House cocaine investigation citing lack of evidence
• Published July 5, 2023
• Why the Secret Service closed its investigation of cocaine found at the White House without conducting interviews
• Secret Service ends White House cocaine investigation with no leads
• news Alerts
• Who left cocaine in the West Wing? The Secret Service says they may never know

In the letter, Chairman Comer emphasizes that the alarming development requires the Oversight Committee to assess White House security practices and determine whose failures led to an evacuation of the building and finding of the illegal substance. 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 powder found at White House identified as cocaine - Reuters

White powder found at White House identified as cocaine.

Posted: Tue, 04 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Secret Service closes White House cocaine investigation citing lack of evidence

Mr. Mosley regularly donates to school and local police department fundraising events, provides groceries and other necessities to those in need, and supports new businesses. There was no surveillance video footage found that provided investigative leads or any other means for investigators to identify who may have deposited the found substance in this area. Without physical evidence, the investigation will not be able to single out a person of interest from the hundreds of individuals who passed through the vestibule where the cocaine was discovered. At this time, the Secret Service's investigation is closed due to a lack of physical evidence.

Published July 5, 2023

News publications like CNN, The Hill, and the AP reported officials were working to identify who was responsible for bringing the substance into the federal building. 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. According to the AP, Secret Service agents discovered the substance while doing a routine security scan of the building.

Why the Secret Service closed its investigation of cocaine found at the White House without conducting interviews

Department of Homeland Security's National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center, which analyzed the item for any biothreats. Tests conducted at this facility came back negative and gave formal confirmation that the substance was not biological in nature. The Secret Service is running the investigation, which will include consulting cameras and entrance logs, the official added. 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. WASHINGTON — A formal lab test of the white substance found at the White House on Sunday has come back positive for cocaine, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Wednesday. That’s not all that makes this hourlong project such an interesting choice for Disney, which produced the documentary via Andscape – ESPN’s race and culture platform.

Secret Service ends White House cocaine investigation with no leads

A 41-year-old man caught pouring cocaine down a toilet when gardaí raided his house has been jailed for three years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Officers found the cocaine during "routine patrols," a Secret Service official said. Asked about the incident Wednesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre emphasized that the investigation is under the Secret Service's purview and said she is "confident" they will get to the bottom of the situation. The news was first broken after several news organizations reportedly heard firefighters discussing the discovery on public radio channels. He, first lady Dr. Jill Biden and members of their family departed for Camp David on Friday. They returned to the White House on Tuesday for an event with the National Education Association and Fourth of July festivities.

Secret Service Examining How Suspected Cocaine Ended Up at the White House

Visitors, contractors, military personnel and staff members use the storage cubbies to drop off electronic devices and personal items not permitted in some areas of the West Wing. The vestibule is near the Situation Room, which is out of service for renovations; an alternative secure meeting room is being used for classified briefings during construction. WASHINGTON — The mystery of who brought cocaine into the White House remains unsolved. The Secret Service investigation has concluded with no usable forensic or video evidence identifying the person responsible, three Secret Service officials familiar with the investigation said.

Garda Thomas McDaniel told the prosecution that when gardaí arrived at the house with a warrant, they found a large amount of drugs paraphernalia including weighing scales. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’ largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement. The White House "is subject to rigorous guidelines that include drug testing, and so we will take any action that is appropriate and warranted, pending the outcome of the Secret Service," Jean-Pierre told reporters, adding that she wouldn't "get into hypotheticals." Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., sent a letter Wednesday asking Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle for more information about the investigation.

The saga over the cocaine began just before the Fourth of July, when the White House was temporarily closed after an "unknown item" was discovered by Secret Service officers on July 2. A preliminary test conducted by the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department soon after the substance was found indicated it was cocaine. Secondary testing of powder found in the West Wing lobby of the White House was confirmed to be cocaine. President Biden was briefed on the investigation and said it is “incredibly important” for the Secret Service to determine how it got there. Both of these analyses were conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's crime laboratory given their expertise in this area and independence from the investigation. 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.

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]

Officers found the cocaine during a routine patrol, a Secret Service official said. The complex was briefly evacuated as a precaution when the white powder was found. The fire department was called in to test the substance on the spot to determine whether it was hazardous, and the initial test came back negative for a biohazard but positive for cocaine. 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.

As such, the substance was field tested and preliminarily determined to not be a hazardous compound. 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. ORLANDO, Fla. — A Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Orlando investigation led to a guilty plea for possession with the intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine. "The president thinks it's very important to get to the bottom of this," Jean-Pierre said in response to a question about how determined Biden is to uncover who brought drugs into the White House. The substance was found Sunday evening in a small zippered bag in a highly trafficked part of the West Wing and prompted a brief evacuation, a Secret Service official said. No talking head is more cynical than Wocka Flocka Flame, an Atlanta rapper who not only came out for Trump in 2020, but said he was better than Obama.

Tests later showed the powder was cocaine, according to reputable news publications. But the lab results didn’t turn up latent fingerprints or DNA, so agents can’t compare anything to the possible suspect pool. 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. The court heard that he told gardaí on arrest that he had accumulated a drug debt of €25,000 and was under duress from others to become involved in the operation. Judge Nolan said the court could not impose a non-custodial sentence because of the seriousness of the crime and the level of Wildman’s involvement. This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.

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.

Mr Bowman said Wildman had a history of work in the construction industry, but developed a significant drug habit, at one stage taking half an ounce of cocaine a week costing €1,100. The judge said that Wildman had been a "vital cog" in the distribution of drugs and had become involved due to his own drug-taking. Defence counsel Michael Bowman explained that Wildman requires regular hospitalisation for chemotherapy to manage the brain swelling and is also on immunosuppressants. Judge Martin Nolan imposed a lesser sentence on Wildman than that handed to Banks, after hearing extensive evidence of Wildman's medical difficulties. Wildman was upstairs trying to put cocaine down the toilet, but he only managed to empty one bag before gardaí arrived.

American Rapper Calvin “Snoop Dogg” Broadus Jr. claimed on a webshow in 2014 that he smoked marijuana in a White House bathroom in 2013. Willie Nelson similarly claims in his 1988 autobiography he smoked a joint on the White House roof sometime during President Jimmy Carter’s presidency. Villanova University star basketball player Gary McLain told Sports Illustrated in 1987 that he was “wired on cocaine” during his visit to meet President Ronald Reagan at the White House following the team’s 1985 NCAA championship. The substance was discovered in a work area in the west wing by members of the Uniformed Division of the Secret Service conducting routine rounds through the building, the secret service told Forbes.

After that news broke, social media posts about the discovery rapidly spread, with various degrees of legitimacy. We found posts on Twitter, Reddit, TikTok, and Facebook making various claims about where the illicit substance was found and to whom it allegedly belonged. For instance, the below-displayed post claimed the cocaine was found in an area often occupied by U.S. President Joe Biden, while other posts asserted that the drug was left behind by his son, Hunter Biden. The U.S. Secret Service has stopped looking for the owner of a dime bag of cocaine left behind in the White House over the July 4th weekend, closing its investigation because of a lack of physical evidence. 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.

Agents had gathered the names of several hundred people who may have passed by that area. Comer, a Kentucky Republican, later said in a statement that the Secret Service needs to reassess its security operations to ensure illegal substances do not enter the White House. President Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden were not at the White House when the cocaine was found, as they spent the weekend at Camp David before returning for Fourth of July festivities.