The White House on Monday defended the Secret Service’s investigation into the packet of cocaine discovered in the West Wing, despite the agency’s inability to find a culprit or much evidence.
“We believe that the Secret Service did a thorough investigation,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at the daily press briefing.
When asked about her earlier remarks expressing confidence that the Secret Service would identify a suspect in the case, Ms. Jean-Pierre repeated that it was “a thorough investigation.”
“Of course, we are going to have confidence that they are going to do their jobs to get to the bottom of this,” she said. “That is something we have confidence in — always confidence in that.”
Ms. Jean-Pierre declined to discuss President Biden’s reaction or whether he was disappointed that the Secret Service couldn’t find the culprit.
The Secret Service closed its investigation last week, saying that the cocaine packet yielded no usable forensic evidence including fingerprints or DNA. Video footage of the area where the packet was found also provided no evidence to narrow the suspect list, the agency said.
“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,” the Secret Service said in a statement.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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