- The Washington Times - Thursday, July 6, 2023

A Republican lawmaker wants to know more about how a stash of cocaine wound up at the White House last weekend and whether the Secret Service will make an arrest if the culprit is identified.

Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican, sent a letter to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle requesting that she release information about a Secret Service officer finding cocaine in the West Wing of the White House on Sunday.

Mr. Cotton also asked Ms. Cheatle to provide the Secret Service’s procedures to secure the White House complex.

“If the White House complex is not secure, Congress needs to know the details, as well as your plan to correct any security flaws,” he wrote.

The Arkansas Republican listed several questions about the cocaine discovery to be answered by July 14.

The White House could not provide new details about the situation on Thursday.

 “This is something we take seriously. The law enforcement professionals in the Secret Service are investigating after this substance was discovered in a highly traveled area,” said deputy White House press secretary Andrew Bates. “We’re willing to assist in any way needed. Beyond that, I’m going to respect their process.”

The Secret Service, in a statement to The Washington Times Wednesday, declined to comment on whether security cameras had captured the incident.

“Because it is an ongoing investigation, we are not making any additional comments outside of the confirmation that the substance was cocaine based on laboratory testing,” said Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.

Mr. Cotton asked for a list of individuals who have access to the White House complex without needing to pass any security screening. He also asked for a list of people with access to the White House complex while subject to lesser security screening requirements than the most complete screening required of individuals accessing the West Wing.

Mr. Cotton noted that the Secret Service’s Annual Report for fiscal year 2022 states that the Secret Service’s Personnel Screening K-9 program screens approximately 10 million “visitors to the exterior of The White House each year.”

He asked how many visitors to the interior of the White House are screened by the Secret Service’s K-9s each year, and to describe the circumstances under which the Secret Service decides not to use K-9 screening for West Wing visitors.

He also asked over how often in the past five years that the Secret Service encountered illegal drugs at the White House complex, and how often these narcotics were discovered during security screenings, and if the substances were also found inside secure areas.

Mr. Cotton noted that Section 3056A of Title 18, U.S. Code provides members of the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division with the authority to “make arrests without warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony.”

“Illegally possessing cocaine is a crime under federal law. If the Secret Service discovers the identity of the individual who brought illicit cocaine into the White House complex, will they make an arrest under this provision?” he asked.

Finally, Mr. Cotton asked for the most recent detailed information about how often the Secret Service audits its security procedures for the White House complex and adjusts those procedures to correct potential flaws.

The White House on Wednesday attempted to distance President Biden’s family and the mysterious cocaine discovered in the West Wing over the weekend, saying the first family was gone all weekend and the drug was discovered in a “heavily traveled” part of the complex.

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Mr. Biden was briefed on what happened and expects the Secret Service to get to the bottom of it. She declined to name a likely culprit but signaled the Biden family should not be suspected.

“The president and the first lady and their family were not here this weekend,” she said. “They left on Friday and returned just yesterday.” Presidential son Hunter Biden, a recovering cocaine addict, also traveled with the first family.

— Thomas Howell contributed to this report.

• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.

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