Secret Service Investigating Who Brought Cocaine Into the White House The New York Times

Table Of Content

• WATCH: Colin Jost roasts the room at White House Correspondents’ Dinner
• Secret Service Investigating Who Brought Cocaine Into the White House
• Secret Service Examining How Suspected Cocaine Ended Up at the White House
• US Marshal among 4 law enforcement officers killed in shooting near Charlotte -- one suspect dead, 2 others detained

Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesperson for the Secret Service, told Forbes that the white powder was found in the White House Sunday evening and that preliminary tests showed it was cocaine. According to the AP, Secret Service agents discovered the substance while doing a routine security scan of the building. NBC reported the drug was in a small, zippered bag, and that it was unclear how long it had been in the White House. The Situation Room, located in the West Wing, where staffers would also drop their phones before entering, has been undergoing construction work and was not in use at the time the baggie was found, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said last week. U.S. Secret Service agents found the white powder during a routine White House sweep on July 2, in a heavily trafficked West Wing lobby where staff go in and out, and tour groups gather to drop their phones and other belongings. In a review of recent years, the Secret Service found two incidents in which small amounts of marijuana were detected by Uniformed Division officers and reports were filed, Secret Service officials said.

WATCH: Colin Jost roasts the room at White House Correspondents’ Dinner

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. "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. Colin Jost swapped his Weekend Update anchor desk for a lectern as the entertainer for this year’s White House correspondents’ dinner, drawing laughs from a crowd of journalists and politicians — as well as Jost’s wife, Scarlett Johansson. Per tradition at any White House Correspondents' Dinner, the president was also the butt of several jokes.

Secret Service Investigating Who Brought Cocaine Into the White House

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden believed it was “incredibly important” for the Secret Service to get to the bottom of how the drugs ended up in the White House. The Secret Service is responsible for securing the White House and led the investigation. The presence of cocaine at the White House prompted a flurry of criticism and questions from Republicans, who received a closed briefing Thursday on the results of the investigation. An initial test of the substance conducted by the District of Columbia Fire Department soon after it was found indicated it was cocaine, and the additional test took place Tuesday night. President Biden and his family were away at Camp David when a uniformed Secret Service agent found the substance during a patrol of the West Wing around 6 p.m. On Sunday, the person said, prompting a brief shutdown of some of the White House campus as response workers assessed whether the substance was hazardous.

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

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. A small amount of a white powdery substance was found in the White House on Sunday evening, according to a person familiar with the episode, and an initial test by emergency response workers determined that it was cocaine. President Joe Biden and his family were at the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, not the White House, when officers discovered the cocaine. Officers found the cocaine during a routine patrol, a Secret Service official said. Forensic work on the cocaine bag continued Thursday, though officials are setting low expectations that they will be able to identify who left it.

Photos show cocaine found in White House locker - NewsNation Now

Photos show cocaine found in White House locker.

Posted: Tue, 14 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Meanwhile, Secret Service investigators put together a list of several hundred individuals who may have accessed the area where the drugs were found. Anyone who comes through the White House must give identifying information and pass through security before entering. Homeland Security’s National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center analyzed the item for any biothreats. The complex was briefly evacuated as a precaution when the white powder was found.

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Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., sent a letter Wednesday asking Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to release information about where the cocaine was found. He also asked half a dozen questions about access to the White House, other instances of illegal drugs' being found in the complex and security procedures, requesting answers by July 14. Jean-Pierre reiterated that the cocaine was found in a heavily traveled area that visitors often transit and noted that staff-sponsored tours were held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Secret Service is running the investigation, which will include consulting cameras and entrance logs, the official added.

The spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi, also said that the agency had confirmed that the white, powdery substance found by an officer was cocaine, backing up the results of an early test by the Washington fire department. An initial test of the white powdery substance found inside the White House on Sunday evening showed it was cocaine. 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.

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

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more. ” protesters draped in the traditional Palestinian keffiyeh cloth shouted, running after men in tuxedos and suits and women in long dresses holding clutch purses as guests hurried inside for the dinner. We'll be in touch with the latest information on how President Biden and his administration are working for the American people, as well as ways you can get involved and help our country build back better. Still, there’s good reason to think that coke has entered the US presidential office on past occasions – and that its most famous user may have been Franklin D Roosevelt. The news was first broken after several news organizations reportedly heard firefighters discussing the discovery on public radio channels.

And in the 1930s and 1940s, when Roosevelt held office, the go-to treatment for nasal swelling was a watered-down cocaine solution, applied by a cotton swab, to quickly shrink and numb a patient’s nasal tissue, before inserting a needle to drain out sinus fluid. Guglielmi said the discovery prompted a brief evacuation–President Joe Biden was at Camp David and not in the White House at the time–and response from the Washington, D.C., Fire Department, which quickly determined the substance to be nonhazardous. 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. Tests later showed the powder was cocaine, according to reputable news publications. Unlike some other federal entities, the Secret Services does not have drug-sniffing dogs.

White House press secretary Karine-Jean Pierre said the space is "heavily traveled" by staff and visitors, including those taking tours. Two senior law enforcement officials told CBS News that there was 207.6 milligrams, or .007 ounces, of cocaine discovered, according to an FBI analysis. This might not be the first time illegal drugs were brought into or used at the White House.

No charges were brought because the amounts were legal under Washington law at the time. The people were notified that they could not bring the marijuana to the White House campus, the officials said. 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. 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.

House Oversight requests Secret Service briefing on White House cocaine - NBC News

House Oversight requests Secret Service briefing on White House cocaine.

Posted: Fri, 07 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Later, in an email to Snopes, he confirmed the cocaine wasn't found in a library and was instead found "in an area of the West Wing." The Washington Post reported that the area was near boxes where White House staff instruct visitors to leave their phones before entering the West Wing. 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.

Since her release, Dr. Polk has furthered her education, including earning a PhD in public policy and administration. She has also engaged in extensive community service, locally and nationally, and is a respected advocate for the elderly. Colleagues, supervisors, friends, and community members uniformly praise her character and work ethic and consider her a role model, noting her demonstrated commitment to serving others. "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," the agency said. "At this time, the Secret Service's investigation is closed due to a lack of physical evidence." “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,” Secret Service officials said in the summary.

Had Mr. Mosley been sentenced under current law and sentencing practices today, he would have received a significantly lower sentence. Since his release, Mr. Mosley started a business, manages rental properties, and works as a realtor. He is described as generous and deeply committed to his family, his employees, and his community. 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.

The bag containing the cocaine remains in a federal laboratory, where it will be tested for DNA and fingerprints, the official said. "The last time I was in D.C. I left my cocaine at the White House," said Jost, referring to the mysterious bag of the drug found there last July. "Luckily, the president was able to put it to good use for his State of the Union. I am kidding, of course. The president doesn’t call it cocaine. He calls it high-speed rail." Alexis Sutton –New Haven, ConnecticutAlexis Sutton is a 33-year-old woman who pleaded guilty to a non-violent drug offense. Since then, she has taken classes in hopes of earning her nursing degree and ultimately becoming a registered nurse.

Eric Trump warned that if the Supreme Court brushes aside presidential immunity, prosecutors could line up a case against President Biden over last summer’s White House cocaine debacle. Since FDR’s days, there have been a few other tales of drugs in the White House. Even if he was receiving it, there’s a good chance Roosevelt wouldn’t have known about it. According to the prevailing medical literature of the day, doctors were advised not to tell patients that they were receiving cocaine (“The habit-forming properties of this drug are well known and must be ever guarded against,” read one textbook).