The Biden administration is refusing to answer if the cocaine found at the White House this week belongs to President Biden or his son, Hunter Biden.
The cocaine was discovered by White House officials on Sunday in the West Wing. The discovery was particularly notable because of the notorious drug use of Hunter Biden.
When asked on Thursday about the incident, White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates told reporters that he had no new information on the matter.
“This is something we take seriously,” he said. “The law enforcement professionals in the Secret Service are investigating after this substance was discovered in a highly traveled area. We’re willing to assist in any way needed. Beyond that, I’m going to respect their process.”
A reporter then asked Bates about recent statements from former President Trump, who suggested that the drugs belong to either President Biden, his son, or special counsel Jack Smith.
“Trump has made some pretty wild posts recently on social media,” the reporter said. “One of them was that the cocaine found in the White House was — had belonged to either the President or his son.”
“Are you willing to say that that’s not the case, that they don’t belong to them?” the reporter asked.
“I don’t have a response to that because we have to be careful about the Hatch Act,” Bates said. “What I will say is that I have noticed there does seem to be some increasing frustration coming from that corner in general.”
At the end of the press conference, Bates was asked if the Secret Service and White House would “commit to transparency” in disclosing details of their investigation into who brought the cocaine into the White House.
“I’m going to defer to the Secret Service professionals who are carrying this out,” Bates said. “I’m just not going to engage on hypotheticals about it. I would — I would suggest you contact them for anything more.”
