(Washington) The discovery of cocaine in the White House, confirmed on Wednesday, sparked a political controversy, the spokeswoman for the executive ensuring that the drug was found in an area frequented by outside visitors while the president and his family were away.
Earlier, the Secret Service – in charge of the security of high personalities of the American State – had confirmed after analysis that the white powder found Sunday in the famous west wing of the building, turned out to be cocaine.
The substance was initially considered potentially dangerous, prompting a brief evacuation. Suspicious powders regularly received by mail in US official buildings are treated as potential chemical or bacteriological attacks.
Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said on Wednesday that an investigation was “under way”.
The discovery of the cocaine in the White House led to speculation within the American media about the identity of the person responsible. Several figures on the right immediately pointed the finger at the president’s son, Hunter Biden, because of his past strewn with addictions.
Donald Trump himself accused Joe and Hunter Biden in a message punctuated with insults.
“Does anyone really believe that the COCAINE found in the West Wing of the White House, very close to the Oval Office, was for the use of anyone other than Hunter and Joe Biden? “said the former Republican president on his Truth Social network.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton on Wednesday called on the Secret Service to release the exact location where the gunpowder was found.
“The American people deserve to know if illegal drugs have been discovered in an area where confidential information is shared,” he wrote in a letter to the director of the Secret Service.
Locker
Reflecting the growing controversy, journalists present at the meeting between Joe Biden and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Wednesday asked far more questions about the discovery than about Stockholm’s potential NATO membership.
The White House tried to extinguish the fire by explaining that the first clues pointed to the responsibility of a visitor.
Spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said the drugs were in an area frequently used by outside visitors invited by White House staff. Before entering sensitive areas of the building, these visitors must leave their phones in lockers. It was in one of these lockers that the cocaine was found.
She also insisted that the Biden family was not present at the White House over the weekend.
The spokeswoman concluded questions on the matter by saying, “We’re confident the Secret Service will get the hang of it.”