The White House found cocaine “in a much more secure place … near the Situation Room” and next to “where, for example, the vice president, Kamala Harris vehicle is parked”.
The Secret Service probe into who left the drug could wrap up as soon as Monday, NBC also reported. The protective agency is scrutinizing visitor logs and security footage to determine who put the cocaine in what the White House has described as a “highly trafficked” area of the executive mansion.
“We are doing everything possible to attempt to identify who may have brought this item into the White House,” Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told The Post on Thursday. “And that includes every resource, that includes every option available to us or to the federal government.”
Forensic work on the cocaine bag continued on Thursday, though officials are setting low expectations that they will be able to identify the person who left the cocaine.
Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked during Wednesday’s press briefing which of the two West Wing entrances was involved, and she declined to answer, saying she would let the Secret Service speak to that.
The sources maintain that the area is highly trafficked, keeping with Jean-Pierre’s characterization in yesterday’s briefing. The area is transited by VIPs, visitors, tourists, staff, military and facilities operations employees.
“What I wanted to be very clear is that this is a heavily, heavily trafficked, heavily traveled, to be more accurate, area of the campus of the White House,” Jean-Pierre told reporters during Wednesday’s press conference. “It is where visitors to the West Wing come through.”
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“This is under the purview of the Secret Service,” Jean-Pierre said in the briefing. “They are currently investigating what happened over the weekend. So I would have to refer you to the Secret Service, the Secret Service on all of this.”
Officers found the cocaine during a routine patrol, according to a Secret Service official. The substance tested positive for cocaine in a lab test on Wednesday.
Biden and his family were at Camp David, Maryland, not the White House, when officers discovered the cocaine.
Yesterday, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., sent a letter to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle requesting additional information on the investigation. Secret Service officials say they have received the letter and will respond.
Kelly O’Donnell
Kelly O’Donnell is Senior White House correspondent for NBC News.
Megan Lebowitz
Megan Lebowitz is based in the Washington bureau. She has written about breaking politics news and U.S.-China relations.
In updating the location of where the cocaine was found, officials said that area was also heavily trafficked.
The cocaine was found in an entrance area between the foyer and a lower-level lobby, the sources said. The entrance is near where some vehicles, like the vice president’s limo or SUV park. It is one floor below the main West Wing offices and the same floor as the Situation Room and a dining area.
According to reports, the cocaine that was found in the White House was found near the Situation Room, which was a more secured area.
This means normal tours likely could not have led to the incident taking place.
To me, there has to be cameras in the White House, and those cameras, if working properly should be able to detect who left the cocaine in a specific location.
An official close to the matter previously told The Post that the cubby is used by both White House employees and visitors to store phones and personal items that are not taken into other parts of the complex.
The basement entrance is one of two to the West Wing and is located on the same level as the Situation Room and White House Mess. The other entrance, located on the first floor, leads to a more formal lobby steps from the Roosevelt Room, Cabinet Room and Oval Office.
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