President Donald Trump has suggested that either former President Joe Biden or his son, Hunter Biden, may have been responsible for a small bag of cocaine found in the White House nearly two years ago. Trump recently vowed to reopen the investigation, renewing scrutiny over an incident that federal authorities had previously deemed inconclusive.
In July 2023, a small plastic bag containing cocaine was discovered inside the White House, triggering an immediate evacuation and an investigation by the United States Secret Service. The substance was located in a storage cubby near a public entrance to the West Wing, a heavily trafficked area frequented by both visitors and staff.At the time of the discovery, Biden and his family were at Camp David. The Secret Service conducted a thorough investigation, utilizing advanced fingerprint and DNA analysis, but was unable to identify a suspect due to a lack of physical evidence.
The case was closed after eleven days without any charges filed. However, earlier this month, President Trump announced plans to reopen the investigation, hinting at possible involvement by Joe Biden or his son, Hunter. In an interview released Friday published by The Spectator, Trump was asked by correspondent Ben Domenech, “So… who actually left the cocaine in the White House?” Trump responded, “Well, either Joe or Hunter. Could be Joe, too.”
“OK, so that was such a terrible thing because, you know, those bins are very loaded up with… they’re not clean, and they have hundreds and even thousands of fingerprints. And when they went to look at it, it was absolutely stone cold, wiped dry. You know that, right?” Trump asked. Domenech said, “Well, because, I mean, I was briefly a Bush speechwriter. And so I knew exactly what they were talking about. And I was like, ‘Those things are filthy.’ They’re filthy.”
Trump continued, “And there were fingerprints. I mean, if you went to one, maybe we’re cleaner, but if you went to one at any time, you would see hundreds. Everybody in there would leave a fingerprint when they went in and that thing was wiped out with, with the strongest form of alcohol.” Trump added: “By the way, and I have to tell you, I think I’m going to look into that because it was… bad stuff happened there.”
The handling of the case has drawn criticism, particularly over the Secret Service’s decision to dispose of the cocaine evidence. Reports suggest that former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, a Biden appointee, sought to keep the incident quiet to avoid media scrutiny, sparking internal disagreements within the agency.
According to RealClearPolitics, Cheatle and other top agency officials allegedly attempted to have the cocaine evidence destroyed. However, resistance from the Secret Service’s Forensics Services Division and the Uniformed Division led to internal conflicts. When the cocaine was initially discovered, reports varied on its exact location before officials determined it was in a vestibule near a White House entrance. The Secret Service sent the evidence for testing, which yielded a “partial DNA hit,” but no suspects were identified.
