House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) sent a letter to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on Friday requesting a briefing on the details surrounding the discovery of cocaine in the White House, as the committee investigates what happened.
“The presence of illegal drugs in the White House is unacceptable and a shameful moment in the White House’s history,” Comer said in the letter.
🚨The presence of illegal drugs in the White House is unacceptable and a shameful moment in the White House’s history.
Congress funds White House security procedures & @GOPoversight has oversight jurisdiction over Secret Service operations.
I’m requesting a briefing.👇 pic.twitter.com/5ORRhE7bey
— Rep. James Comer (@RepJamesComer) July 7, 2023
Secret Service uniformed officers on Sunday around 6 p.m. Eastern discovered a plastic baggie of white powdery substance in the West Wing during a routine patrol, which prompted an evacuation of the White House and the dispatch of a D.C. Fire Department hazmat team who first identified the substance as cocaine.
According to the Secret Service, the plastic baggie was found in a cubby at an entrance for staffers and official visitors, which leads to a lower level of the West Wing that is near the Situation Room. Staffers can also bring personal guests through the entrance, after the guests undergo a background check ahead of time and pass through a security checkpoint manned by the Secret Service. The Secret Service, assisted by the FBI, is now reviewing surveillance tapes and visitors logs.
Police are seen outside the White House grounds, Sunday night, July 2, 2023 in Washington. The White House was briefly evacuated Sunday evening while President Joe Biden was at Camp David after the Secret Service discovered suspicious powder in a common area of the West Wing, and a preliminary test showed the substance was cocaine, two law enforcement officials said Tuesday. (Anthony Peltier via AP)
White House officials have insisted the area is “heavily-trafficked,” but even MSNBC acknowledged that the area is “limited-access,” and the average person “just can’t get in there.”
Comer wrote:
This alarming development requires the Committee to assess White House security practices and determine whose failures led to an evacuation of the building and finding of the illegal substance. The Committee requests the U.S.
Secret Service (USSS) provide additional information.
House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) speaks to reporters after attending an FBI briefing in the House Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) at the U.S. Capitol Building on June 05, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Comer requested a briefing by the Secret Service to the committee by July 14, 2023.
“The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate ‘any matter’ at ‘any time’ under House Rule X,” he added.
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