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Comer Demands Secret Service Briefing on White House Cocaine Discovery

House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images).
July 7, 2023

Rep. James Comer (R., Ky.), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, called on the Secret Service to deliver a briefing about the discovery of cocaine in the White House.

"This incident has raised additional concerns with the Committee regarding the level of security maintained at the White House," Comer wrote in a Friday letter to the Secret Service. "In order to assist the Committee with its investigation, please provide a staff level briefing."

Comer, whose committee is responsible for overseeing and investigating the federal government, gave a deadline of July 14 for the briefing.

The White House was evacuated Sunday after agents found a suspicious substance during a sweep of the building. The substance was later determined to be cocaine. President Joe Biden and his immediate family, including his son Hunter Biden, were not present at the White House during the incident.

Accounts of the details of the discovery have shifted several times since it was first reported.

A Washington, D.C., fire department dispatch call said the substance was found in the "library" of the executive mansion, but a Secret Service spokesman later said it was found in the West Wing.

Later reports said that the drugs were discovered in a restricted part of the White House, on a day when public tours are typically not offered.

Comer said his committee must "assess White House security practices and determine whose failures" resulted in the situation.

Published under: James Comer