Washington, DC – Authorities in the United States have closed the investigation into the source of cocaine found at the White House without identifying a suspect “due to a lack of physical evidence”, the Secret Service has said.
The announcement on Thursday could further fuel conspiracy theories by Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, linking the drug without evidence to President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and his son, Hunter.
The Secret Service, the agency that is responsible for the safety of the White House and that conducted the probe, said the FBI was not able to develop fingerprints on the package containing the drug.
“There was no surveillance video footage found that provided investigative leads or any other means for investigators to identify who may have deposited the found substance in this area,” the Secret Service said in a statement.
“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 White House has previously stressed that Biden and his family were not in the building on the day the cocaine was found, and that the substance was located in a “heavily traveled area”.
The package was first discovered on July 2 “inside a receptacle used to temporarily store electronic and personal devices prior to entering the West Wing”, the Secret Service said on Thursday.
The Washington, DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department first found the substance to be cocaine earlier this month, a conclusion confirmed by the FBI.
Some Republicans quickly seized on the incident and tried to tie it to Hunter Biden, who had struggled with drug abuse in the past.
“Does anybody really believe that the COCAINE found in the West Wing of the White House, very close to the Oval Office, is for the use of anyone other than Hunter & Joe Biden,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform last week.
Several Republican lawmakers raised suspicions about the Secret Service’s conclusion on Monday. “Unacceptable. It’s time to investigate the investigators,” right-wing Congressman Andy Biggs said in a tweet.
In a video posted on social media, Republican Congressman Tim Burchett called the probe a “bad look” for the Secret Service.
“It’s the most secure building in the entire world,” he said, referring to the White House. “You can’t go in there; they have facial identification … Nobody goes in there without them knowing.”
