Is finding Cocaine in the White House a problem?

For points of reference:

https://www.snopes.com/news/2023/07/05/cocaine-white-house/

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/cocaine-found-white-house-was-different-location-previously-reported-s-rcna92906

I doubt it. There are hundreds of people that work in the Executive Mansion and surround buildings. The cocaine could belong to any of them.

Further, it could have been placed there by some republican visitor as a means of embarrassing the current administration.

Without a whole lot more information, this is a nothingburger. There just isn’t enough information in those articles to rule anything out.

@elbanditoroso The hardest part of this investigation is that they don’t allow even security cameras in the area in which the cocaine was found. But there are cameras that lead up to that area. Those videos are being studied to see who the possible suspects could be. Any Republicans that might have planted this there would also show up on those videos. It is also possible that there were fingerprints found on the baggie. Again…this is not an open area for people to wander through. Anyone going into this area would have to have a reason for being there.

Probably only to Trump who apparently had an apoplectic fit apparently.

Cocaine is the drug of choice for politicians. Lots of them use it.
As for the Cocaine found recently in the White House…. it probably belonged to a visitor.
A little bit of Cocaine is relatively harmless. It doesn’t present a threat to anyone, except for people who are addicted to it along with their families.
I don’t see this as a big deal. It shouldn’t be seen as a big deal.

Finding cocaine isn’t as big a problem as not finding it.

Only users lose drugs.~

If it is indeed true, it is a problem.

Sure. What are you going to do about it?

A similar thing happened in the UK Parliament a couple of years ago. Cocaine was found in numerous locations only accesssible only to elected ministers It made the news for a bit. There was talk of police getting involved. It’s pretty much an open secret and one former cabinet minister even admitted he “used to” take cocaine.

Absolutely nothing happened. No investigation was conducted and the whole affair was just quietly dropped and ignored.

Expect the same in this case.

I wouldn’t really care, but the hypocrisy is that cocaine is an illegal drug, and you’ve got actual legislators using the stuff who seem completely fine with other less privileged people going to prison for it.

I’m not alarmed by this.
Was this found by drug sniffing dogs? (Fun fact: Drug sniffing dog was the secret service name for Don Jr.)
Big Joe and Hunter were outside the area for the days surrounding the discovery. I am annoyed that FOX seems to be accusing Kamala for this.
Would I be more concerned if Trump was still President? I don’t know. I wouldn’t suspect him of it, but the rogues gallery he had for staff and advice would look like an old episode of Perry Mason.

If you read the Snopes article you posted, it does not mean what you think it means. Seems like conspiracy rumors are rife again.

@filmfann It’s not really a “fun fact” when it’s false.

I think it’s a problem. It should be looked into or tighten up inspecting bags, etc.

I’m not alarmed, as another jelly said, but I don’t think it should be ignored.

I would answer the same if it was Trump in office. I have always maintained that I believe Trump doesn’t touch alcohol or drugs, except what is prescribed by a doctor.

It would be, to the person who left it there. And only to the person who left it there.

According to 45’s own press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, there is NO way it belonged to Hunter because he was at Camp David.

Again…this is not an open area for people to wander through. Anyone going into this area would have to have a reason for being there. She also disputes your characterization of how unbusy the area was…calling it a “heavily trafficked area”. I personally know that when the Pres & family are away from the WH that there are public tours. In this case, they had tours on Fri, Sat, & Sun leaving many outside suspects. I have heard a LOT of rumors concerning this & NONE of them had tried to frame it as a right wing witch hunt…unless djtj was among those doing a tour!!! It appears that Hunter is NOT the only first child that has had a drug problem & it was NOT always a male child that imbibed…neither side is drug free by any stretch of the imagination!!!

My thought was that it was probably one of the Secret Service, because they seem to like to party (based on their partying while on duty a few times in news stories). I was thinking maybe one of them had it and was at risk of being caught, so they dropped it, kind of like a perp throwing drugs out the window when being pursued by the police.

It doesn’t make the WH look good, so I am betting the law enforcement in the WH is trying to pursue it to the best of their ability.

I would feel the same if it were Trump in the WH – it’s not good to have cocaine there, and it doesn’t look good either.

If a White House employee brought in the drugs, it would be easier to determine, because staff are fingerprinted and subjected to drug tests. A visitor would be harder to pin down; there were tours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday last week. Source: ABC News

@janbb Interesting. What do you think I think it means? I purposely did not point fingers at anyone in particular. To me, the fact that someone that has access to one of the most secure places in the country is leaving cocaine lying around is an issue. It says that someone like that is a coke head, not someone I’d want making decisions or influencing our nation. Yes, there were people that jumped right on blaming Hunter, but I’m not one of them. However if he was in there since the last time they checked the area then I might re-think that. Hunter has brought his own brand of idiocy to his family and has caused enough scandal with him. But I suspect he wouldn’t accidentally leave his drugs somewhere.

@chyna The NBC report I posted from yesterday has confirmed it was not where Karin Jean-Pierre had said it was. It was not in a location that the general public has access to and certainly not for tours.

@jca2 That is a distinct possibility. Would it be a problem for a Secret Service agent to be hooked on drugs?

U.S. Secret Service agents found the powder during a routine White House sweep on Sunday, in a small, clear plastic bag on the ground in a heavily trafficked area, according to three people, who were not authorized to speak about an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Source: ABC News
Not that I’m any type of expert or even knowledgeable on such things, but with it being found on the ground in a lobby, it makes me wonder if someone was hiding it down their pants, panties, bra or underwear and it fell out.

@seawulf575 I am sure that the SS has a work policy of no drugs on duty, no drugs allowed in the workplace (as I did when I worked in local government and as probably most workplaces have similar rules). It would be a problem for any employee anywhere to be hooked on drugs, don’t you think? Absenteeism would be a big problem for any employee, and if someone is hooked on drugs they’re prone to higher rates of absenteeism. Not saying all drug addicts miss work, but statistically, more do. That’s just the one problem of many that a person who is a drug addict would have to deal with.

@Chyna, the original statement that came out was that it was found in an area where many tours go through. My understanding of the situation is that when tours are coming through, the people in the tour are asked to put cell phones and other things in what amounts to a mailbox of their own. They then go through the security checkpoint and on to the tour. There is another security checkpoint going into the West Wing, where typical tours are not allowed to go. This also has a place for people to put cell phones and other belongings, very similar to the first one. This is where the cocaine was found. So it was not someone from the general public on a tour.

So @seawulf575 what tour did Hunter and Joe Biden go on ? ? ? ?

Your Q and you bashed the President and Hunter then claim you are are “OPEN MINDED” !

” I purposely did not point fingers at anyone in particular.”

As I wrote in my initial reply (second posting above), we don’t know enough – no details – to make any sort of valid assessment. We have Snopes, various new networks, and written web sites saying different things.

So any rabble rousing here (by @seawulf575 or anyone else) is based on lack of knowledge. Pure speculation.

What happens in general is that people push their own agendas (yes, here in Fluther) regardless of facts.

Remember the ZEBRA acronym: Zero Evidence But Really Arrogant

“What are your thoughts? Is it a problem or not?”

Less concerning than bath salts, but more concerning than cannabis gummies.

It would be nice to find out how it got there, I don’t know how any repercussions should be dealt with?
More than just the person that brought it there, maybe better security, offer rehab?just don’t know.

Agree with @elbanditoroso

@Tropical_Willie Where did I point a finger? I didn’t. I did say the population of potential suspects is much smaller than when it was first announced and that it is someone that can be allowed into the higher secured area. That isn’t just Joe or Hunter. And the question was asked because I felt that someone with the security clearance to get into that area would have some level of influence in our government. That could be anyone from the POTUS or FLOTUS down to a staffer for a cabinet member or some other high ranking official. And it would have to be someone that passed that checkpoint. Additionally, I would hope there were visitor logs that could help narrow the field.

@elbanditoroso What we know is that cocaine was found near the entrance to the secure part of the West Wing. That is what we know. We don’t know who left it there, we don’t know when it was left. I find that a problem for reasons I have explained fully. I didn’t attempt to go any further than addressing the facts we know. How exactly is that rabble rousing? I take offense at being called out by name on this one.

I did not read any the above answers.
I think some one is going to be going through withdrawal symptoms soon.

You put it there, did you not?
Who could have known you would stoop so low as to try to assassinate Biden with cocaine?
Anyone, really.

https://www.westernjournal.com/former-secret-service-agent-ex-wh-official-blow-lid-off-wh-cocaine-story/

This agent served under both Obama and Bush.

Of course it is a problem. What if it had turned out to be anthrax or fentanyl. This is a clear indication that security there is shit.

The check point was for tours by tourists . . . .

It was in a high trafficked area, open to the public. No telling who the prankster was.

I’m not too concerned. I mean, as someone stated, cocaine is the drug of choice for politicians. I’m not sure how true that is, but they punish crack a lot more. Anyway, someone may need help from NA.

People may be subjected to drug tests but only marijuana stays in the body long enough to be discovered (30 days). If that. A person can pass a drug test on pot if he/she doesn’t smoke for more than 30 days.
So someone could use cocaine and not be detected.

@seawulf575 would you have asked this question if your beloved was in the Whitehouse at this time?

@SQUEEKY2 I’d bet that he would. Just sayin’. Take me up on that bud? Nah, that’s a sucker bet. ; )

@SQUEEKY2 I absolutely would. If you haven’t paid attention, I’m all for holding everyone to the same standard. The problem you and many others from the left have with me on these pages is that I am not part of the parrot crowd that starts screaming whenever Trump is mentioned. In all the scandals the left has tried bringing against Trump I have looked at what the accusations are, what the evidence is, and then started forming my opinions. Most times the accusations are horrible, the evidence is weak or looks made up. You all stop at the accusations and jump right into him being guilty.

In a situation like this, I’d be looking at it the same way I am looking at it now. Someone with high up access is a coke head. This is not good. We need to find out who it is and get rid of their access to the most sensitive parts of this country. I’d say they should be held accountable in the law, but leftist ideology has made drug possession and usage very minor charges that carry little to no jail time and/or fine.

See, what you and so many others that want to do when I make statements or pose questions is to run to “WhataboutTrump!” Given the same situation, I feel the same way. I tell you that over and over but no one seems to listen or what to hear it. Meanwhile, anytime a question is raised that nears Biden, you all act like it’s no big deal. But when I ask you if you would feel the same if it was Trump, you refuse to answer of start throwing out vitriol about Trump or you make personal attacks against me.

Want proof of that claim? Look at the responses to this question. At the end of the explanation of the question I specifically asked what I was looking for on these answers and the last one was to ask if the answers would be different if it was the Trump administration. Not a single person addressed that, but I did get one answer that blamed Trump. What a surprise. Care to break that cycle? You gave an answer to the question that I felt was a good one. Yet you didn’t respond to how YOU would feel if it was Trump in the WH. Wanna give it a try?

@seawulf575 I specifically said at the end of my comment that I would feel the same if Trump were in the WH, and now you’re saying that not a single person addressed that but you did get answers that blamed Trump. Did you not read my comment?

I’m not really sure what you want people to say. It seems you want everyone to say we would be up in arms if it was trump’s term, but since it is Biden,we don’t care.
This is my opinion only, I can’t speak for anyone else:
I truly don’t give a shit. No matter who was in office. It was a tiny amount, the size of a dime according to NBC News. Still, the area it was found in was heavily populated by staff and tours. I doubt they will find the culprit. Again, to make myself clear, I don’t care.
Also, I never blamed trump. So, please change your tone that EVERYONE is against you and trump at every turn.

@seawulf575 I said I would feel the same with Trump too.

In fact regarding Trump I have said many times on fluther that I believe he doesn’t take drugs or drink alcohol and that he has said many times in the past that it ruins people’s lives and that he told his children to never touch any of it. I believe him. Not like a typical parent says “don’t drink.” It was way beyond that. I think he would have had little tolerance for people in the WH bringing in drugs or his staff using them.

@jca2 I apologize…you did. I went back up to look before I made the statement and just missed it. But you are the only one.

@chyna The question is would you feel the same regardless of whether it is the Biden WH or the Trump WH, not that you feel Trump did it somehow. And what do I want people to say? I want them to say what they truly feel…period. Not looking for some specific answer, just the truth.

Why I asked it is because of the past history of the reaction to Trump as opposed to the reaction to Biden. Example: The left went crazy about Trump making a quid pro quo to Zelenskyy to force him to investigate Biden. That never happened as was plain to see, though they had a whistleblower statement that was a complete lie and the Dems went crazy. Meanwhile, Biden was bragging to the WEF that when he was VP he DID use a quid pro quo, threatening to withhold support that Congress had already approved to go to Ukraine unless they fired the AG that was investigating Burisma. Yet the reaction, even on these pages was “No big deal” or “It’s not the same” or “He isn’t president. If he becomes president then we can look at it”. The last one I found particularly odd since the action was supposedly an impeachable offense and yet the reaction is that it doesn’t matter and he should run for president. Now he is POTUS and still everyone wants to sweep it under the rug.

The reaction from the left leaning jellies on these pages is typically not consistent from the right to the left when problems arise. Especially if you are talking about Trump on the right.

@seawulf575 Apology accepted. @JLeslie said the same – she would feel the same with Trump in office, too.

If it was during the Trump administration, I would want to know what drug Trump took that turned him orange.

@flutherother Probably some spray tan garbage. Or maybe he ate a WHOLE lot of carrots.

I think all elected officials should have mandatory drop tests. In this situation, it sounds like it could have been anyone.

@KNOWITALL I wasn’t an elected official but I did work for the government for over 30 years. In our contract with the union, we would have no choice if the employer wanted to do a drug test at any time. Random drug testing. I can tell you in the 30 years I worked for this employer, I was never drug tested but if the employer had a reason to suspect someone, like if you showed up at work looking high or smelling like alcohol, they could and would send you for a test. I know they did send people. The downside to it was it would take the majority of a day between getting the person to the testing site and them being tested. Of course the person could not drive themselves and an employee could not drive them so a cop would take them and then someone high up in the Department would meet them at the testing site (to receive the results and talk with the staff). The union would show up too, as it was the employee’s right to have the union present. The reason I’m explaining all the details is that it was such a process that only if there was a real suspicion was it ever done.

The drug test could not be done at the work site because one, it wasn’t sanitary to have people pissing in cups in a non-laboratory setting and two, it might taint the results (or give the employee a reason to contest the results) if it was done in a non-laboratory setting.

If you want to have a better chance of having a drug free workplace, you have to do random drug testing with a zero tolerance stance on it. AND you have to randomly do these tests. One place I worked at did drug tests usually twice a week, not on the same day. They would pull a number out of a hat and whoever had that number as the last number of their SSN would be in the pool for that testing period. Since you don’t know what day the testing is done and the candidate selection is randomized, if you do drugs you are likely going to get caught at some point.

In the military we had random testing as well. In my mind, if some grunt on a submarine has to be tested several times a year (at least), then so should every elected official and their staffs. They have much more widely impacting jobs than working on a sub.

@seawulf575 I’m mostly inclined to agree with you, but there’s a pretty broad spectrum of importance in the executive branch. You’ve got positions that are absolutely vital to national security and have life/death consequences with the decisions they make on a daily basis. And then there’s the assistant to the guy in charge of weights and measures. If he wants to smoke pot on the weekends, I’m not going to lose sleep over it.

@gorillapaws I used to think that way. But the problem is that you never know when that person that isn’t very high up on the totem pole suddenly has the spotlight and their performance is needed to be spot on. The other part, that came from the military, is that if someone has a drug problem they are more likely to be targeted to help enemies of the country than someone that is clean. Same with debt problems.

On a separate note, I STILL believe that someone that smokes weed on their days off (if it is legal where they are) shouldn’t be punished if a drug test shows THC in their system from that time. The limitation, as I can tell right now, is how long from usage to detectability the tests are good for. Example: if you do a breathalyzer and detect alcohol, it means the alcohol is in the system at that time. If you do a drug test and detect THC that might be from 30 days before. They may not be under the influence at the time of the test. To me, the point of drug tests is to see if someone is fit for duty or not.

And EVERYONE should be subject to drug testing,from the top CEO to the janitor no exceptions.

@SQUEEKY2 Yup. In fact, at one of the power plants I worked at, when they first started random testing they touted how everyone from the site VP to the lowest paid person were treated all the same and that you could expect to be tested 3–4 times per year. On the second year I was tested 8 times in the first 6 months. I called the security office that controlled the testing and asked them how many times I had been tested in the last 6 months. They tried telling me they didn’t keep those records. I told them that it was a nuclear power plant that ran on paperwork and they, of course, kept those records. They hemmed and hawed and finally asked why I wanted to know. I told them that if it was random I should be called 3–4 times per year and they agreed. I told them that in 6 months I had been called at least 8 times. That much of a statistical anomaly was not possible. What that told me was that either their system was corrupted as it was not random or they were purposely calling me either because they thought I was up to something and wanted to catch me or because they knew I was a clean pee and wanted to show good results. Either way it wasn’t random.

I didn’t get called again for 2 years.

Still this was not a good result. The correct thing would have been to just go back to what “random” would have provided.

@Chyna a dime bag is $10.

@Dutchess_III Cocaine is not sold in dime bags. The amount of cocaine that’s in the size of a dime is not costing 10 dollars. Cocaine is sold by the ounce, eight ball, etc.

Pot is sold in dime bags, although the amount that was in a dime bag decades ago is surely not the amount you’d get now.

A dime bag of pot is half an ounce, 14 grams. It would cost far more than $10 today.

Sry. It was my 70s groove showing.

@chyna No problem. I miss those days too.

According to CNN today, 7/13/23, the FBI has completed their search without find a culprit. I’m not surprised.

@chyna and now the conspiracy nuts will emerge and call it a cover-up to protect the Bidens. This is all so predictable.

I’m guessing it’s someone high up in the SS or FBI and so of course they’re not finding the culprit.

Boy I can’t wait to see how the Rep\cons spin this one.

It is a little weird. One would think there would be cameras EVERYWHERE in that place. That said, I’m just guessing, maybe they DON’T have cameras for security reasons. I have no clue what I’m talking about.

@gorillapaws My understanding is that where it was found actually does not have any cameras. However there is a desk right there with a guard all the time for logging people in and out. But I’m not sure even that story of where it is found is realistic now. The story is that a Secret Service agent found the baggie during a routine walk down. If the location they are saying it is at has an agent there all the time, it seems odd it would not have been seen right away and that you would have to walk down that area. And if the walkdowns are routine, what is the routine? Every 3rd day? That just seems to not pass the smell test. But that is the official story so we will go with it. Whoever left it there had to sign in and out as this area is only for people wanting to enter.

Guards aren’t infallible. They have their nose stuck in their phone like everyone else.
Look at the recent jailbreak in Pennsylvania. Someone was certainly asleep at the wheel there, or in cahoots with the escapee.

@chyna No, guards aren’t infallible. But we aren’t talking about one guard. We are talking about many since they are saying the time period is over the weekend. We are talking about the entire security team for one of the most protected places on the planet.

Some random guy off the street

@seawulf575 We are talking about a very small amount of coke with 500 people and employees passing through. It could have been dropped, stuck on a shoe, dragged around, who knows.

@chyna but that (dropped, stuck on a shoe, etc.) doesn’t fit the anti-Biden narrative! So it can’t be considered.

@Dutchess_III Again, the place where it was found was not where some random guy off the street can get to. It isn’t in a place where Aunt Edna can get to when she is on a tour of the WH. It’s in an area where only WH staff (and only some of them) and their approved guests can go.

@chyna Where did the 500 number come from? From the articles posted, it was NOT at the general public entrance. It was at the entrance outside the Situation Room which is restricted to relatively few people. And the number does not put to rest my question or concern about the legitimacy of the story or of the attentiveness of the Secret Service. Let’s say it fell out of someone’s pocket onto the counter where it was supposedly found. The official story is that it was found on a routine security walkdown. I was in the military and know what “routine walkdown” means. It generally means there is some set timeframe for doing these walkdowns…every 6 hours, every 12 hours, once a day, etc. They are saying the timeframe they are looking at for possible perpetrators is the entire weekend. If they aren’t doing routine security walkdowns any more frequently than that, then I would say that is a problem that this cocaine has unearthed.

The location it was supposedly found has a guard right there 24/7. How does it take shift after shift of Secret Service agents manning that desk before it is found? Again, back to the military, before you relieve someone on a duty station, you get a turn over of what is going on and are supposed to do a walkdown of the area you are responsible for. So if this cocaine was there for the entire weekend, that shows these walkdowns are not being done and none of them are curious enough to look around. Kinda hard to believe when you are guarding one of the most secure areas on the planet. This could be another problem the cocaine has unearthed.

And who knows? I believe when you are guarding access to one of the most secure locations on the planet you should know. It should be your job to know everything that goes on in your area.

The person that brought the cocaine is not the only problem with this scenario.

But here is the article on this from a source you like, NBC News

@chyna Thank you. I had not heard a number of 500 before. But did you read that article? It raises even more questions. They claim they don’t have the right to interview anyone if there is no evidence to tie them to it. Yet they said they had video evidence showing people coming in and out. Interviewing isn’t accusation, its part of the investigation. If you ask a number of people on day one of the video if they saw it or left it and they all tell you no, you move on and do the same to the day two group and so on. After this you have basically eliminated anyone from any day except the last day. Not because they denied it, but because it is highly unlikely that EVERYONE would have denied it to cover up for one person. Even if the last person on day one to be in the area left it there, the people on day two would have seen it.

This is starting to sound more like a cover-up than an investigation. They are claiming their own security is inadequate and that they can’t actually investigate without people’s consent and that they didn’t actually ask for the consent. They are starting to plead incompetence rather than actually figuring things out.

@seawulf575 I’m curious. Are you trying to blame Hunter for this?

@chyna Absolutely not. If you go up to the second comment I made, I specifically state I don’t think he did this. But from a political optics point of view and from an investigative point of view, you have someone in the First Family that is/was a drug addict for many years. This is found near a place that he would have had access to (along with a limited number of other people). I would think that he might at least be on a suspect list.

But Hunter is not the only person that could get to these sensitive areas. And sensitive areas is the key here. The amount of coke they found is insignificant…the criminal penalties are negligible and would likely be ignored anyway. But it does several things I see as a problem. Someone that has access to the sensitive areas is a coke-head. Traditionally not the most reliable people in the world, not to mention the possession/use of cocaine is grounds for revocation of a security clearance and that person would no longer be allowed access to the area. Another issue is that it sat in plain sight for some amount of time (several days by all accounts) and Secret Service did not see it. That brings up severe questions about their security protocols and performance.

@chyna I do have to wonder, though, if the WH at least initially thought it might be Hunter. The response was very nonchalant and confusing. Facts were sketchy and there seemed to be no sense of urgency. My initial thought was that THEY thought it was Hunter and wanted to confirm or deny that thought before actually moving on with an actual investigation of substance.

I would love to see a picture of the bag. Was it so small as to be mistaken for a piece of trash? We will probably never know.
In my opinion, for what it’s worth, it was not being delivered to someone else, it was the holder’s personal use since it was such a tiny amount. Surely anyone that would be buying dope wouldn’t do so in such a supposedly very secure area. But that’s just my take.

Just some random person looking to rock the boat!

@chyna I’m with you that it was somebody’s personal stuff. My understanding is that there wasn’t very much in the baggie and the baggie was not very large.