Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that the mysterious baggie of cocaine found at the White House over the weekend belonged to President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
U.S. Secret Service agents found the powder cocaine Sunday during a routine security sweep of the West Wing in an area frequented by visitors and staff.
Trump took the drug discovery as an opportunity for baseless smears.
“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 & Joe Biden,” Trump, who is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, wrote in a post on his social media website.
“But watch, the Fake News Media will soon start saying that the amount found was ‘very small,’ & it wasn’t really COCAINE, but rather common ground up Aspirin, & the story will vanish,” he continued.
Contrary to Trump’s suggestion, the story remained a major focus on Wednesday, with lab analysis confirming the substance is cocaine, a Republican senator demanding the Secret Service explain how the drug got into the White House, and reporters asking the president’s spokesperson multiple times for more details.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday the cocaine was found in a “heavily-traveled” area with lots of visitors and that there were staff tours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
“The president and the first lady and their family were not here this weekend,” Jean-Pierre said.
She said the Secret Service would conduct its investigation of the drugs and that the White House would stay out of it.
The president’s son Hunter has been public about his past struggle with addiction to alcohol and crack cocaine; the elder Biden doesn’t drink and has never been known as a drug user.
While he was making things up, Trump also suggested Wednesday that Jack Smith ― the special counsel prosecutor appointed by the Justice Department to handle the cases against the former president ― looks like a drug addict.
“Has Deranged Jack Smith, the crazy, Trump-hating Special Prosecutor, been seen in the area of the COCAINE?” Trump wrote. “He looks like a crackhead to me!”
Secondary test of powder found in West Wing lobby shows it’s cocaine, Biden briefed on the investigation
White House Powder
Police are seen outside the White House grounds, Sunday night, July 2, 2023, in Washington. The White House was briefly evacuated Sunday evening while President Joe Biden was at Camp David after the Secret Service discovered the suspicious powder in a common area of the West Wing, and a preliminary test showed the substance was cocaine, two law enforcement officials said Tuesday. (Anthony Peltier via AP)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
White House Powder
A United States Secret Service officer stands outside the White House grounds as D.C. Fire Department vehicles are seen at a distance, Sunday night, July 2, 2023, in Washington. The White House was briefly evacuated Sunday evening while President Joe Biden was at Camp David after the Secret Service discovered the suspicious powder in a common area of the West Wing, and a preliminary test showed the substance was cocaine, two law enforcement officials said Tuesday. (Anthony Peltier via AP)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
White House Powder
D.C. Fire Department vehicles are seen outside the White House grounds, Sunday night, July 2, 2023, in Washington. The White House was briefly evacuated Sunday evening while President Joe Biden was at Camp David after the Secret Service discovered the suspicious powder in a common area of the West Wing, and a preliminary test showed the substance was cocaine, two law enforcement officials said Tuesday. (Anthony Peltier via AP)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLLEEN LONG, ZEKE MILLER and MICHAEL BALSAMO
Wed, July 5, 2023 at 6:12 PM GMT+1
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has been briefed on the investigation into the discovery of cocaine on the lobby floor of the White House West Wing, and thinks it is “incredibly important” for the Secret Service to determine how it got there, officials said Wednesday.
U.S. Secret Service agents found the powder during a routine White House sweep on Sunday, in a small, clear plastic bag on the ground in a heavily trafficked area, according to three people, who were not authorized to speak about an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
On Wednesday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the White House had confidence in the Secret Service. “The president thinks it’s incredibly important to get to the bottom of this,” she said.
Biden was at Camp David with members of his family for the holiday weekend when the powder was discovered and the complex was briefly evacuated as a precaution. The fire department was called in to test the substance to determine it was not hazardous, and the initial test came back positive for cocaine. A secondary, more sensitive lab analysis confirmed the results.
Investigators have not yet identified who brought the drugs into the White House. The Secret Service, which is responsible for securing the White House, was combing through visitor logs and security footage.
The lobby where the drugs were found is where many official visitors and staffers enter. It is also open to staff-led tours of the West Wing, which are scheduled for nonworking hours on the weekends and evenings. Those tours are invitation-only and led by White House staff for friends, family and other guests. Most staffers who work on the complex can request an evening or weekend tour slot, but there is often a long waitlist.
If a White House employee brought in the drugs, it would be easier to determine, because staff are fingerprinted and subjected to drug tests. A visitor would be harder to pin down; there were tours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday last week.
The District of Columbia fire department was called in Sunday to test the substance to determine whether it was hazardous, though officials immediately suspected illicit drugs because of how it was packaged, two of the people said. It’s routine to follow up with a more sensitive lab test later. That test was returned Wednesday.
The Secret Service said in a statement Tuesday that the White House was closed as a precaution as emergency crews investigated.
“The item was sent for further evaluation and an investigation into the cause and manner of how it entered the White House is pending,” the Secret Service said.