The Secret Service closed its investigation into the source of cocaine left at the White House without identifying who was responsible for the crime, according to a report Thursday.
Secret Service investigators were unable to identify the suspect even after reviewing visitor logs and surveillance footage of hundreds of individuals who entered the West Wing in the days leading up to the discovery of the cocaine in a cubby on July 2, two sources familiar with the investigation told CNN. It’s unclear from the report if the Secret Service interviewed Hunter Biden, a recovering crack addict rumored to be living at the White House, as part of its investigation.
The report raises serious questions about the veracity of the Secret Service’s investigation. According to CNN, the Secret Service failed to determine what day the illicit substance was left at the White House. Hunter Biden was filmed at the building two days before the discovery of the cocaine.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates refused to rule out the possibility that the cocaine belonged to Hunter Biden last Thursday "because we have to be careful about the Hatch Act." Ethics experts scoffed at the suggestion that the Hatch Act, which prevents federal officials from engaging in political activity on taxpayer time, would prevent Bates from answering that question.
One source told CNN that investigators believe a visitor to the West Wing was responsible for leaving the cocaine in a cubby where people store phones during tours.
But the Washington, D.C., fire department initially said in a dispatch call the evening the cocaine was discovered that the substance was found in the "library" of the executive mansion, a room located in the living quarters of the White House. Four days later, NBC News reported that the cocaine was actually discovered at a different cubby near the West Executive entrance, an area near where Vice President Kamala Harris’s limo is parked.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green (R., Ga.) told reporters after a Thursday briefing with Secret Service officials that investigators were unwilling to drug test the 500 potential suspects they had identified during their investigation.
"Have they drug tested this list of 500 potential suspects that brought an illegal substance—the drug cocaine—into the White House," Greene told reporters, according to the Daily Mail. "Their answer was no, and that they're unwilling to do so."
The Secret Service has a history of intervening in criminal matters implicating the Biden family.
In 2018, Hunter Biden’s sister-in-law and lover, Hallie Biden, disposed of his .38-caliber handgun at a trash can across the street from a Delaware high school. As state police were probing the incident, Secret Service agents reportedly interviewed the owner of the store where Hunter Biden purchased the handgun just weeks prior. The store owner refused to provide paperwork to the agents fearing they were trying to conceal Hunter Biden’s involvement in the matter, sources told Politico. The Secret Service later denied any involvement in the matter.
Former Secret Service agent Konstantinos Gus Dimitrelos told the Washington Free Beacon that investigators had the tools at their disposal to determine who left the cocaine at the White House.
"It’s not like Disney World. People aren’t just coming in and out," Dimitrelos said. "There are cameras there. They could easily go back to the camera footage to see who had something coming out of their pocket that resembled whatever the package looked like."
Dimitrelos added that the Secret Service has the means to contact everyone who visited the White House in the days leading up to the discovery of the cocaine, noting that the Secret Service conducts a background check on everyone who enters the building.
"They’ve absolutely got everybody’s contact information. They can interview every single person," Dimitrelos said.
The Secret Service said in a statement Thursday that there was "insufficient DNA" and no fingerprints on the bag that could be used for "investigative comparisons."
"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. "At this time, the Secret Service's investigation is closed due to a lack of physical evidence."
Update 11:29 a.m.: This story has been updated to include a statement from the Secret Service.