The Secret Service said Thursday it has closed its investigation into the cocaine that was discovered in the West Wing of the White House after no fingerprints or DNA were found.
Officials said they were “not able” to “single out a person of interest” because of the lack of physical evidence.
The cocaine found on July 2 was discovered “inside a receptacle used to temporarily store electronic and personal devices prior to entering the West Wing,” the Secret Service said Thursday.
The statement said investigators conducted a “methodical review of security systems and protocols” in trying to figure out how the cocaine entered the White House.
“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 Secret Service said and explained investigators compiled “a pool of known persons for comparison of forensic evidence gleaned from the FBI’s analysis of the substance’s packaging.”
Lab results that were returned on Wednesday revealed “insufficient DNA was present for investigative comparisons.”
“Therefore, the Secret Service is not able to compare evidence against the known pool of individuals,” the statement added.
The Secret Service said there was also 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,” the statement concluded. “At this time, the Secret Service’s investigation is closed due to a lack of physical evidence.”
The Secret Service released its statement on Thursday shortly after officials briefed members of Congress on the investigation.
Representative Tim Burchett (R., Tenn.) told reporters that lawmakers were informed that less than 1 gram of cocaine was found.
While the substance was initially thought to have been found in a locker used by visitors in the West Wing lobby, updated reporting indicates the cocaine was found in a working area of the West Wing. NBC’s Andrea Mitchell reported that the location is a “much more secure place” with “limited access,” and that “normal people, average people, can’t get in there.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre scolded New York Post reporter Caitlin Doornbos for asking the press secretary if she could “say once and for all whether or not the cocaine belonged to the Biden family.”
Jean-Pierre claimed she hadn’t been avoiding the question and that she had in fact “exhaustively” answered questions about the situation.
“You know, there has been some irresponsible reporting about the family. And so I’ve got to call that out here. And I have been very clear. I was clear two days ago when talking about this over and over again as I was being asked the question,” she said.
“As you know, and media outlets reported this, the Biden family was not here. They were not here. They were at Camp David. They were not here Friday. They were not here Saturday. They were not here Sunday. They were not even here Monday. They came back on Tuesday. So to ask that question is actually incredibly irresponsible. And I’ll just leave it there,” she added.
Yet the Friday White House pool report in question notes the president, first lady, Hunter Biden and Hunter’s son didn’t depart for the day until after 6:30 p.m.