Secret Service investigating suspicious powder found at the White House : NPR

Table Of Content

• Trump was upset after Wall Street Journal published article about AMI-McDougal deal, Pecker says
• Eric Trump warns Biden could be hit with charges for White House cocaine if SCOTUS rules against immunity
• Secret Service probes how a small bag of cocaine got into the White House
• Trump Comes Down Hard on Netanyahu: October 7 ‘Happened on His Watch’
• Pecker admits AMI falsely denied it was killing negative stories about Trump
• Fox News Takes Down Hunter Biden ‘Mock Trial’ Special After Lawsuit Threat From President’s Son

Secondary testing of powder found in the West Wing lobby of the White House was confirmed to be cocaine. President Biden was briefed on the investigation and said it is “incredibly important” for the Secret Service to determine how it got there. In a review of recent years, the Secret Service found two incidents in which small amounts of marijuana were detected by Uniformed Division officers and reports were filed, Secret Service officials said. No charges were brought because the amounts were legal under Washington law at the time.

Trump was upset after Wall Street Journal published article about AMI-McDougal deal, Pecker says

According to Pecker, Trump told him, "Either you or one of your people leaked the story." Following the Wall Street Journal story, AMI issued a statement denying it was killing negative stories about Trump, Pecker says. A police officer dropped the parcel off at a St. Cloud address in Central Florida, near Kissimmee, as agents staked out the area. Monicsabel Romero Soto was spotted repeatedly driving around the home in a white Acura SUV, presumably to ensure no law enforcement was present, the complaint alleges.

Eric Trump warns Biden could be hit with charges for White House cocaine if SCOTUS rules against immunity

The lobby is open to staff-led tours of the West Wing, which are scheduled for nonworking hours on the weekends and evenings. Those tours are invitation-only and led by White House staff for friends, family and other guests. Most staffers who work in the complex can request an evening or weekend tour slot, but there is often a long wait list.

Lab test confirms white substance found at the White House is cocaine - NBC News

Lab test confirms white substance found at the White House is cocaine.

Posted: Wed, 05 Jul 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Secret Service probes how a small bag of cocaine got into the White House

There were tours on the day, a Sunday, the drugs were found, as well as on the two preceding days. A person familiar with the investigation said that the baggie was found near an area where guests are screened for security and leave their phones in small cubbies. The Secret Service would not say where exactly the substance was found in the lobby or whether the agency was working with the White House to review guest logs. People familiar with the investigation say that the area is frequented so often by so many groups of people that it may be hard to find the person who left the baggie. The Secret Service is looking to find out who brought a baggie of cocaine that was discovered on Sunday evening into a guest lobby of the West Wing of the White House, an agency spokesman said on Wednesday. It was found in a zip-close bag near an entrance where visitors taking tours are directed to leave their phones, the official said.

Trump Comes Down Hard on Netanyahu: October 7 ‘Happened on His Watch’

President Biden and his family were away at Camp David when a uniformed Secret Service agent found the substance during a patrol of the West Wing around 6 p.m. On Sunday, the person said, prompting a brief shutdown of some of the White House campus as response workers assessed whether the substance was hazardous. Testing conducted by the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department indicated that the found powder tested preliminarily positive for the presence of cocaine. The substance and packaging were treated as evidence and sent to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center, which analyzed the item for any biothreats. Tests conducted at this facility came back negative and gave formal confirmation that the substance was not biological in nature.

‘These Aren’t Civilians’: Trump Says He’s Willing to Deploy the Military to U.S. Cities to Conduct Mass Deportations

One popular rumor was that the drug was found in the White House library. On Wednesday, he met with the Swedish prime minister in the Oval Office and did not respond to a question a reporter shouted about the incident. Fire was called to evaluate the substance and determined it was "non-hazardous." On Tuesday morning, Mr. Biden returned to the White House with several of his family members.

Pecker admits AMI falsely denied it was killing negative stories about Trump

While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email with any questions. In the article, the Journal questioned Pecker's relationship with Donald Trump at the time, Pecker says, adding it was published just days before the 2016 election. They hired a a press consultant for McDougal who reported to Pecker, the former tabloid executive testified. Pecker is saying he wanted McDougal to speak to the press because the Wall Street Journal "already set the stage and tone" to what the story was.

So on Thursday morning, New York’s highest court threw out Harvey Weinstein’s conviction for sex crimes and ordered a new trial. In 2020, he had been convicted of sexually abusing two women. The prosecution really pushed the boundaries, and the conviction was always a little shaky, a little controversial. But it was a landmark sentence, in part because Harvey Weinstein is a foundational figure in the #MeToo movement. While Donald Trump sits in a Manhattan courtroom in his criminal hush money trial, a federal judge upheld E. Jean Carroll's defamation verdict and denied the former president's motion for a new trial Thursday.

Published July 5, 2023

Still, there’s good reason to think that coke has entered the US presidential office on past occasions – and that its most famous user may have been Franklin D Roosevelt. Later, in an email to Snopes, he confirmed the cocaine wasn't found in a library and was instead found "in an area of the West Wing." We found social media posts that claimed the cocaine was found in various places around the White House, such as the above-displayed Facebook post that claimed it was found in an area where President Biden often worked.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court heard arguments over whether former president Donald Trump should have legal immunity for allegedly interfering with the 2020 presidential election after he lost the race to Joe Biden. Trump’s lawyers have argued that his actions, because he was still president at the time, should be shielded from prosecution. Prosecutors were taking a risk by including them because there’s a bedrock principle of criminal law that when a person is on trial, the evidence should pertain directly to the charges that are being examined. So prosecutors took this risk, and it seemed to pay off in a big way.

Visitors, contractors, military personnel and staff members use the storage cubbies to drop off electronic devices and personal items not permitted in some areas of the West Wing. The vestibule is near the Situation Room, which is out of service for renovations; an alternative secure meeting room is being used for classified briefings during construction. The president was briefed on the incident, and the discovery of the cocaine prompted questions from Republicans in the House. Oversight Committee chairman James Comer said last week his panel will assess the White House's security practices, and the Secret Service on Thursday provided a closed-door briefing for the committee.

Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi told The New York Times that the dispatch call was incorrect. He was at Camp David with members of his family for the holiday weekend. The presence of cocaine at the White House prompted a flurry of criticism and questions from Republicans, who received a closed briefing Thursday on the results of the investigation. U.S. Secret Service agents found the white powder during a routine White House sweep on July 2, in a heavily trafficked West Wing lobby where staff go in and out, and tour groups gather to drop their phones and other belongings. The small plastic envelope was found in an area of the West Wing that visitors and staff members often pass through during the day.

But what we now know is that he also used that superpower to manipulate and hurt women. In story after story about Weinstein, the same motifs come up. But meanwhile, the other thing to keep your eye on is the appeals in the California case.

The substance was found Sunday evening in a small zippered bag in a highly trafficked part of the West Wing and prompted a brief evacuation, a Secret Service official said. The Secret Service is running the investigation, which will include consulting cameras and entrance logs, the official added. The probe could take about two weeks, and officials caution that there may not be a resolution if no forensic material is found to identify someone.

Still, its discovery set off rounds of questions for the White House, including about its security protocols and who had access to the area where the substance was found. White House press secretary Karine-Jean Pierre said the space is "heavily traveled" by staff and visitors, including those taking tours. Two senior law enforcement officials told CBS News that there was 207.6 milligrams, or .007 ounces, of cocaine discovered, according to an FBI analysis. The agency, along with the FBI, tested the packet to determine it was cocaine and looked for any fingerprints or DNA evidence. Video footage of the area where the baggie was found also provided no evidence to narrow the possible suspects beyond a list of roughly 500 staff members and visitors who passed through during a weekend earlier this month. The U.S. Secret Service has stopped looking for the owner of a dime bag of cocaine left behind in the White House over the July 4th weekend, closing its investigation because of a lack of physical evidence.