WASHINGTON − The White House on Friday promised “appropriate consequences” for anyone in the Biden administration found responsible for cocaine that was discovered in the West Wing of the White House.
“We have rigorous drug-use policies here at the White House. We take those extremely seriously,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said at a White House briefing.
The Secret Service is investigating who brought the cocaine into the White House.
“We’ll let the investigation unfold. If it involves someone from the White House, the appropriate consequences will ensue,” Sullivan said.
A suspicious powder, later identified as cocaine following tests, was found Sunday evening while President Joe Biden was away from the White House at the Camp David presidential retreat. It prompted a brief evacuation for precautionary purposes.
Anthony Guglielmi, a Secret Service spokesman, said the cocaine was found within the West Wing lobby, which serves as a reception room for visitors of White House personnel. The Secret Service’s investigation remains “open and active,” Guglielmi said Friday.
Earlier this week, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to say whether the responsible party should be prosecuted. “I’m just not going to get into hypotheticals from here,” she said.
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of House Committee on Oversight, in a letter Friday requested a briefing from the Secret Service on the discovery of the cocaine as part of its own investigation.
“The presence of illegal drugs in the White House is unacceptable and a shameful moment in the White House’s history,” Comer wrote.
White House staff are authorized to give West Wing tours to visitors who go through background screenings before being allowed on the White House campus. Guests and staff are subject to metal-detector screenings when they enter the White House premises.
Visitors enter the White House at the White House lobby, a high-traffic area where they are asked to leave their cellphones in small boxes.
Jean-Pierre pushed back when a reporter asked Friday whether she could rule out a member of the Biden family being responsible for the cocaine.
“They were not here,” Jean-Pierre said. “They were at Camp David. They were not here Friday. They were not here Saturday. They were not here Sunday. They were not even here Monday. They came back on Tuesday. So to ask that question is actually incredibly irresponsible.”
Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison.
