A new twist has emerged in the investigation of the cocaine discovered at the White House on Sunday: It was actually found in a different location.
The dust bag was found in a cubicle near the West Executive Entrance of the White House, not in the formal West Wing lobby. nbc news reported citing multiple sources.
That entrance, which is in the West Wing but on the floor below the lobby, is also a busy area, a description White House officials have used as a way to explain their doubts about whether the culprit will be found.
Numerous details about the investigation have been changed. Originally, dispatchers sent to the White House on Sunday to investigate the substance said it was found in the library. It was later reported that he was in the West Wing lobby.
New details reveal that cocaine in the White House was found near the West Executive Entrance of the White House: Above President Joe Biden walks with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan through West Executive Avenue in October 2021 with the entrance executive west of the White House visible behind them
It is now reported to be one floor below the lobby, in an area used by staff, officials, visitors, and VIPs.
The West Executive Entrance is located on West Executive Drive, the access road between the West Wing of the White House and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. That driveway is where Vice President Kamala Harris’ entourage parks and where senior staff have parking spaces.
Senior staff and the vice president go to work in the west wing through that door.
It’s also the entrance used by VIPs for their private meetings in the West Wing: Kim Kardashian used it when she had meetings at the White House during the Donald Trump administration.
Other officials, visitors, and those on tours of the West Wing also use that entrance, which is located on the same floor as the Situation Room.
The investigation continues into the cocaine discovery and is expected to conclude on Monday, NBC reported.
The Secret Service is leading the investigation, which includes reviewing security cameras and visitor logs. The agency is also conducting fingerprint and DNA analysis of a baggie.
And administration officials are downplaying the chances of finding the person who dropped him off in one of the most secure areas of the White House.
The cocaine was said to have been found in the West Wing lobby of the White House, seen above in 2017 after a renovation project.
The west wing lobby (upstairs) is one floor above the west executive entrance
An original dispatch call said the substance was found in the White House library (above).
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre hinted in her daily briefing Wednesday 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 a staff area. .
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 substance was found during a routine Secret Service raid Sunday night and tested positive for a drug.
Jean-Pierre noted that the West Wing 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.
The West Executive Entrance (see behind President Biden and his advisers, has the tent on top) is located on West Executive Drive, the access road between the White House and the Eisenhower Executive Office building where the vice president’s motorcade parks Kamala Harris.
The West Executive Entrance is on the same floor as the Situation Room, seen above during President Donald Trump’s administration: Trump and his advisers sit around his table.
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 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.
