The White House briefly went on lockdown on July 2 after a small bag of "white powder" was discovered in the Situation Room lobby. It was later discovered to be cocaine. However, unmarked bags of white powder are a jumpy subject in DC. Many Beltway veterans vividly remember the wave of notable anthrax attacks in the early 2000s. The President and First Lady were not in the White House at the time. They were in Delaware on a weekend away before overseeing the Fourth of July celebrations in the capital.
At the time, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre acknowledged that the Secret Service was investigating the incident. "It is under investigation by the Secret Service. This is in their purview. And so we're going to allow certainly the investigation to continue." However, Jean-Pierre still had to answer over two-dozen questions about the incident in the days after it was reported. Additionally, several news outlets took the opportunity to link the story to the well-publicized drug use of the President's son, Hunter.
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Jean-Pierre Shuts Down Questions Linking Cocaine To The Bidens
However, once again, right-wing outlets continued to chase the unsubstantiated idea that the cocaine somehow belonged to the First family themselves. “Can you just say once and for all whether or not the cocaine belonged to the Biden family?” asked Caitlin Doornbos of The New York Post. That led to Jean-Pierre making it very clear how she felt about that line of questioning. “We’ve answered this question, litigated this question for the last two days, exhaustively,” Jean-Pierre replied. “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. So, to ask that question is actually incredibly irresponsible, and I’ll just leave it there,” Jean-Pierre said.
Partway through her answer, Jean-Pierre reiterated that the Biden family had left the White House for Delaware on June 30. Furthermore, they didn't return to DC until July 4. The cocaine was discovered on July 2. Furthermore, the area in which was found sees a lot of foot traffic from staff, visitors, and civilian tour groups. However, that has not stopped Biden's detractors from linking the dime bag to the President. “Does anybody really believe that the COCAINE found in the West Wing of the White House, very close to the Oval Office, is for the use of anyone other than Hunter & Joe Biden,” Donald Trump baselessly claimed on social media.
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