Biden LAUGHS AT White House cocaine scandal, refuses to answer reporters’ questions, while press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre suggests drugs found in West Wing belonged to a visitor
- Jean-Pierre noted that cocaine was found in a ‘highly trafficked’ area
- He was found in a cubicle in the West Wing Foyer of the White House.
- Visitors and guests leave electronic devices in the cubbies prior to meetings and tours.
President Joe Biden laughed and again brushed off questions about cocaine found in the White House, as the administration tried to distance the first family and staff from the shocking discovery by suggesting it was a visitor.
Biden sat and watched reporters as they unsuccessfully tried to get his answer to the drug scandal while in the Oval Office with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Wednesday.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre implied in her daily briefing that a member of the public left the List A substance in a “highly trafficked area” of the West Wing: the office space that includes the Oval Office and an area for staff.
Despite repeated questioning, he refused to “hypothesize” about the investigation, insisting that the Secret Service would find the culprit who gave up drugs while Biden and his son Hunter were at Camp David over the weekend.
The cocaine was found Sunday in a small zippered bag in a cubbyhole in the West Wing lobby area, where visitors leave cellphones and other electronic devices before entering the White House complex.
A White House staff member is required to escort guests touring the West Wing, and the Biden administration screens new hires for illicit substances.
President Joe Biden did not respond to questions about cocaine found in the White House
Jean-Pierre said Biden had been briefed on the matter, but the president did not acknowledge the questions shouted at him during the meeting with Kristersson.
He also did not answer questions about it on Tuesday.
The Secret Service is conducting an investigation, which includes looking at security cameras and visitor logs.
The substance was found during a routine Secret Service raid Sunday night and tested positive for a drug.
Jean-Pierre noted that the lobby sees a lot of foot traffic on any given day.
The West Wing is the hub of White House activities. Not only do West Wing tours tour the area, but all officials who have appointments with senior White House staff or the President check in in the lobby.
‘This is a very busy, very busy area of the White House campus. And that’s where the visitors from the West Wing come,” Jean-Pierre said. “I just don’t have anything else, I’m not going to speculate on who he was.”
He also noted that tours of the West Wing, which can be conducted by staff, were conducted over the weekend, including Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
And he said the White House was not involved in the investigation, expressing confidence that the Secret Service would do the job.
“We are confident that the Secret Service will get to the bottom of this,” he said.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre hinted that a member of the public brought the cocaine into the White House.
The cocaine was found in a cubicle in the West Wing Foyer Pictured: West Wing Foyer of the White House
Administration officials may offer tours of parts of the West Wing to friends and family. Non-staff are required to leave electronic devices and other belongings in cubbies prior to taking a tour.
The discovery of the substance on Sunday led to a brief closure of the White House complex on Sunday. Biden and his family were not in the White House at the time.
The Bidens, along with their son Hunter and several grandchildren, spent the holiday weekend at Camp David and returned to Washington DC on Tuesday for a Fourth of July celebration on the South Lawn.
The mystery of the cocaine discovered at the White House has yet to be solved as the USSS searched for who brought the illicit drug onto the property Pictured: President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, Hunter Biden and their son Beau, of Three year olds watch the fireworks from the White House Truman Balcony on Tuesday, July 4, 2023
The HAZMAT team assembles behind the doors of the White House across from the West Wing entrance Sunday night during a brief evacuation following the discovery of cocaine.
The controversy turned out to be a shadow on the holiday, as questions remain about how the substance got into the White House and who may have brought it.
The West Wing area includes the Oval Office, the offices for the president’s executive staff, the Cabinet Room, the Roosevelt Room, and the press conference room where dozens of members of the White House press corps gather to work. every day.
