A top House Republican is demanding the Secret Service share more about its investigation into the cocaine at the White House
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- House Oversight Chairman James Comer demanded more information about how cocaine got into the White House.
- The Kentucky Republican called the episode an "unacceptable and a shameful moment."
- He wants the Secret Service to speak to his committee's staff.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer blasted the White House on Friday for the "unacceptable" discovery of cocaine inside the West Wing. He also demanded that the Secret Service tell his panel more about its probe to get to the bottom of what occurred.
"The presence of illegal drugs in the White House is unacceptable and a shameful moment in the White House's history," Comer, a Kentucky Republican, wrote in a letter to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.
Comer said that the episode "requires the Committee to assess White House security practices and determine whose failures led to an evacuation of the building and finding of the illegal substance." White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre previously deferred to the Secret Service, expressing confidence that the agency responsible for the White House security would "get to the bottom of" what happened.
According to multiple reports, a white powdery substance was found in the West Wing over the weekend. President Joe Biden and his family were out of town. A Secret Service spokesperson later confirmed to Insider that laboratory testing confirmed that the substance was cocaine.
NBC News reported that the bag containing the drug is also being tested for fingerprints and DNA. The investigation will also comb through visitor logs and camera footage. Officials, per NBC, have cautioned that a culprit may not be found.
The Kentucky Republican requested that the Secret Service provide a briefing to committee staff by July 14, exactly a week from Friday. As one of the top Republicans with broad oversight power, Comer has also led a lengthy probe into Hunter Biden's business affairs and whether those deals resulted in any untoward actions by then-Vice President Joe Biden.