White House says cocaine was found in 'heavily-traveled area' of White House
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says the Secret Service will get to the bottom of the incident.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was barraged with questions from reporters about the cocaine that was allegedly found in the West Wing over the weekend.
"Can you give any more details on whether the Secret Service found the cocaine in the West Wing and how it found it?" Associated Press reporter Josh Boak kicked off the line in inquiries.
"So, as you know, this is under the purview of the Secret Service," Jean-Pierre responded. "They are currently investigating what happened over the weekend. So I would have to refer you to the Secret Service on all of this."
"As you know, the President and the First Lady and their family were not here this weekend, as you all reported on this and as you also know that they left on Friday and returned just yesterday," she continued. "Where this was discovered is a heavily-traveled area where many White House- West Wing, I should be even more specific, West Wing visitors come through this particular area, I just don't have anything more to share."
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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was pressed by reporters about the cocaine that was allegedly found in the West Wing over the weekend. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
When asked by Reuters correspondent Steve Holland about whether President Biden himself has expressed he wants to "get to the bottom" of Cocainegate, Jean-Pierre reiterated that the Secret Service was investigating the matter and that the White House has "confidence" that the agency will find out what happened.
"Is the White House conducting its own internal investigation," ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott asked, later pressing "Can you explain to the American people who would have access to the West Wing on this type of tour and what kind of protocols are in place?" Jean-Pierre deferred both questions to the Secret Service.
SECRET SERVICE INVESTIGATING SUSPECTED COCAINE DISCOVERED INSIDE WHITE HOUSE
"I wonder if the cocaine episode has prompted the White House to ask the Secret Service to review its security protocols" CBS News correspondent Weijia Jiang said, something Jean-Pierre said they'll wait until an investigation is complete.
Jiang then asked if the episode "shines a light" on the fact that "illegal substances" can be brought into the White House and what's preventing visitors from bringing substances like anthrax, a question Jean-Pierre also dodged.
Cocaine was found in an area of the West Wing that is used by both guests and staff. (Marcus Brandt/picture alliance via Getty Images)
CBS News Radio correspondent Steve Portnoy later pressed the White House about which entrance the cocaine allegedly came in from and NBC News correspondent Mike Memoli asked about the specific "scope" of the Secret Service's investigation and whether criminal prosecution is the end goal, which she also declined to answer.
Wall Street Journal correspondent Catherine Lucey asked Jean-Pierre if White House staffers will undergo drug testing as a result of the investigation. Jean-Pierre responded by saying White House staffers are already subjected to "rigorous guidelines that include drug testing."
"How determined is the president to get to the bottom of who brought illegal drugs to the White House?" Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich asked.
"The Secret Service is getting to the bottom of it and that's what matters, and it's under their purview," Jean-Pierre responded.
"But the question was how determined is the president," Heinrich pushed back.
"The President thinks it's very important to get to the bottom of this," Jean-Pierre replied. "That's why the Secret Service, which is under their purview, is looking into this. And they're going to look into what happened this weekend. So the President thinks this is incredibly important to get to the bottom of this."
Many on social media joked that the cocaine found in the White House belonged to President Biden's son Hunter, a recovered crack cocaine addict. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
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President Biden was at Camp David at the time of the discovery of the substance. The president's son, Hunter, who is a recovered crack cocaine addict, was also at Camp David at the time of discovery.
The cocaine was found in an area of the West Wing that is used by both guests and staff. An anonymous law enforcement official told Politico on Wednesday that the culprit was unlikely to be discovered
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