July 13 (UPI) — The U.S. Secret Service on Thursday said it has closed the investigation into a small bag of cocaine discovered in a White House receptacle where electronic devices are temporarily stored prior to entering the West Wing.
“There was no surveillance video footage found that provided investigative leads or any other means for investigators to identify who may have deposited the found substance in this area,” the Secret Service said in a statement. “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.”
According to the Secret Service, FBI lab results on the bag wasn’t able to develop fingerprints, and “insufficient DNA was present for investigative comparisons.”
During the investigation, the Secret Service reviewed security systems and protocols and developed an index of several hundred people who may have accessed the area. But they were not able to determine who put the bag in the receptacle.
House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., and committee members got a briefing from the agency Thursday. Comer had requested the briefing for members of the committee and later said the discovery was “alarming.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said the Secret Service shouldn’t end the investigation.
“You can’t tell me in the White House with 24/7 surveillance and a cubbyhole by a situation room you don’t know who left it there,” McCarthy told reporters.
Other Republicans expressed skepticism about the investigation.
When guests enter the White House, they put cell phones and other devices in small boxes. West Wing tour visitors are subject to background checks and metal-detector screenings as they enter the premises.
The cocaine was found July 2.
The Biden family wasn’t at the White House when it was discovered.
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