By Nick RizzutoThe Secret Service has concluded its investigation into the cocaine found in the West Wing of the White House earlier this month, leaving numerous questions unanswered. The announcement, made Thursday to GOP members of the House Oversight Committee, has sparked vehement criticisms among Republicans, notably from Tennessee congressman Tim Burchett.
“The Secret Service’s inability to identify a suspect is deeply concerning,” the Committee members told The New York Post. Burchett stormed out of the lawmakers’ briefing shortly after it began. He branded the conclusion of the investigation as “bogus” and the investigative process itself as a “complete failure.”
The congressman’s frustrations were shared in a fiery quote he gave to the New York Post: “They know who goes in the White House. They have facial identification, they have — y’all know you can’t go in there without giving your Social Security number anyway, and to say that it’s just some weekend visitor, that’s bogus,” Burchett reportedly said. “Nobody’s buying that at all.”
An investigative summary obtained by the Associated Press revealed that tests for DNA, fingerprints, and other physical evidence on the bag containing the cocaine had come up empty.
The Secret Service, in the same summary, stated, “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 investigation was initially triggered on July 2 when roughly one gram of cocaine was discovered in a storage locker inside the West Wing executive entrance. According to investigators, no surveillance cameras were positioned to capture footage of the potential culprit, adding another layer of mystery to this unsolved incident.
