Last night, Fox News host Jessie Watters, like the rest of the nation, couldn’t stomach the United States Secret Service’s conclusion that it couldn’t figure out who brought cocaine into the White House. The law enforcement agency has the names of 500 individuals in or around the vestibule where the drugs were discovered, but supposedly no video evidence that can zero in on a person of interest. Due to the lack of a solid suspect, the agency is closing its investigation. Katie had more on this yesterday. She included the statement from the Secret Service:
On the evening of July 2, officers from the U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division found an unknown substance inside a vestibule leading to the lobby area of the West Executive Avenue entrance to the White House.
The substance was located inside a receptacle used to temporarily store electronic and personal devices prior to entering the West Wing.
Following the discovery, safety closures were implemented around the White House. This response was designed to ensure that the found substance was not a chemical or radiological material that threatened the security of the White House. As such, the substance was field tested and preliminarily determined to not be a hazardous compound.
Testing conducted by the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department indicated that the found powder tested preliminarily positive for the presence of cocaine. The substance and packaging were treated as evidence and sent to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center, which analyzed the item for any biothreats. Tests conducted at this facility came back negative and gave formal confirmation that the substance was not biological in nature.
The substance and packaging underwent further forensic testing. The substance was analyzed for its chemical composition. The packaging was subjected to advanced fingerprint and DNA analysis. Both of these analyses were conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s crime laboratory given their expertise in this area and independence from the investigation.
While awaiting the FBl’s results, the Secret Service investigation into how this item entered the White House continued. The investigation included a methodical review of security systems and protocols. This review included a backwards examination that spanned several days prior to the discovery of the substance and developed an index of several hundred individuals who may have accessed the area where the substance was found. The focal point of these actions developed a pool of known persons for comparison of forensic evidence gleaned from the FBI’s analysis of the substance’s packaging.
On July 12, the Secret Service received the FBI’s laboratory results, which did not develop latent fingerprints and insufficient DNA was present for investigative comparisons. Therefore, the Secret Service is not able to compare evidence against the known pool of individuals. The FBl’s evaluation of the substance also confirmed that it was cocaine.
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. 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. At this time, the Secret Service’s investigation is closed due to a lack of physical evidence.
The U.S. Secret Service takes its mission to protect U.S. leaders, facilities, and events seriously and we are constantly adapting to meet the needs of the current and future security environment.
It’s not believable. The world’s best security service and the high-tech systems at the White House couldn’t identify a suspect. Maybe agents should drug test the 500 potential suspects at this point. It sure looks like a cover-up is happening before our eyes, and it doesn’t help to diffuse those insinuations when the head of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, used to be on Biden’s security detail as vice president, something Watters highlighted last night (via White House):
I am proud to announce that I have selected Kim Cheatle to be the next Director of the United States Secret Service. Kim has had a long and distinguished career at the Secret Service, having risen through the ranks during her 27 years with the agency, becoming the first woman in the role of Assistant Director of protective operations.
Jill and I know firsthand Kim’s commitment to her job and to the Secret Service’s people and mission. When Kim served on my security detail when I was Vice President, we came to trust her judgement and counsel. She is a distinguished law enforcement professional with exceptional leadership skills, and was easily the best choice to lead the agency at a critical moment for the Secret Service. She has my complete trust, and I look forward to working with her.
We thank Director Murray for his service to this country, and wish him and his family well as he takes the next step in his career.
In the meantime, all files relating to this sham investigation will remain under seal, with the agency confident that the public will accept its half-a**ed probe into the matter. I don’t think so.
