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Former President Donald Trump is promoting an avalanche of new conspiracy theories concerning the recent discovery of cocaine at the White House.
Cocaine was discovered in the West Wing of the White House on Sunday during a regular Security Service security search. The substance was found inside a storage space that visitors use to keep electronics and other items in before going on tours, according to a Wednesday Reuters report, which cited "a source familiar with the matter."
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed during a press briefing on Wednesday that the discovery was made in a "heavily traveled area" that "visitors come through". The Secret Service is reportedly reviewing visitor logs and security camera footage as part of an investigation into the drug's origin.
Neither President Joe Biden nor his son Hunter Biden, a recovering cocaine addict, were at the White House when the illicit substance was found, having departed together on Friday for a visit to Camp David that lasted until Tuesday. The Secret Service conducts security sweeps of the White House on a daily basis. Tours of the West Wing also took place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Regardless, a number of pro-Trump Republicans were quick to suggest, without evidence, that Hunter Biden was responsible for the cocaine. In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump baselessly concluded that the drug was in the White House "for the use of" the current president and his son.
"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," Trump wrote.
The ex-president went on to suggest that the "fake news media" would attempt to make the story "vanish" and falsely claim that the substance was "aspirin.
"But watch, the Fake News Media will soon start saying that the amount found was 'very small,' & it wasn't really COCAINE, but rather common ground up Aspirin, & the story will vanish," wrote Trump.
Trump then floated an evidence-free theory that Special Counsel Jack Smith—who does not frequent the White House, and whose classified documents investigation resulted in multiple federal felony charges being filed against Trump—was somehow involved in the cocaine find.
"Has Deranged Jack Smith, the crazy, Trump hating Special Prosecutor, been seen in the area of the COCAINE?" he wrote. "He looks like a crackhead to me!"
In a subsequent post, the former president demanded that the White House "security tapes" be released, while suggesting that the Biden administration was involved in a conspiracy to conceal the identity of the person responsible for leaving the cocaine.
"Where are the White House SECURITY TAPES, like the ones I openly and happily gave to Deranged Jack Smith, which will quickly show where the Cocaine in the White House came from???" Trump wrote. "They already know the answer, but probably don't like it!"
Newsweek has reached out to the White House via email and the Department of Justice online for comment.
About the writer
Aila Slisco is a Newsweek night reporter based in New York. Her focus is on reporting national politics, where she ... Read more