White House cocaine scandal sparks investigation by top Republican into security 'failures': GOP Rep. James Comer rips the Biden administration for 'shameful moment in history' and calls drug discovery 'unacceptable'

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is demanding information from the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) about the White House security 'failures' that led to the 'unacceptable' discovery of cocaine on the premises Sunday. Comer, R-Ky., wrote to Director Kimberly Cheatle of the USSS, which is leading the probe into the discovery of the substance - including looking at security cameras and visitor logs - to receive information on safety protocols within the White House. The agency also is carrying out fingerprint and DNA analysis of the baggie. In the letter obtained by DailyMail.com Friday, Comer called the presence of illegal drugs in the White House an 'unacceptable and a shameful moment in the White House’s history.' 

'Congress funds White House security procedures, and the Secret Service has a responsibility to maintain effective safety protocols. This incident and the eventual evacuation of staff now clearly raises concerns about the level of security maintained at the White House,' Comer continued. The House Oversight Committee, which has jurisdiction over Secret Service operations, will continue to investigate the matter and plans to set a staff-level briefing with the USSS on the matter by July 14, the Kentucky Republican pledged. Once the substance was discovered Sunday, the White House complex was evacuated. President Joe Biden was not onsite at the time as he spent the July Fourth holiday weekend at Camp David along with his son Hunter Biden, who is a recovering drug addict, and other grandchildren.

Details about where the powder substance was found and who may have brought it has changed multiple times throughout the week. Originally, dispatchers sent to the White House on Sunday to investigate the substance said it was found in the library (pictured). Then it was reported to be in the West Wing lobby. But according to a NBC News report citing multiple sources Thursday, the bag of powder was found in a cubby near the White House's West Executive entrance, not the formal West Wing lobby. That entrance - which is in the West Wing but on the floor below the lobby - is also a heavily trafficked area, a description White House officials have used as a way to explain their doubts the culprit will be found. 

The West Executive Entrance sits on West Executive Drive - the driveway between the West Wing of the White House and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. That drive is where Vice President Kamala Harris' motorcade parks and where senior staff have parking spaces. Senior staff and the vice president go to work in the West Wing through that door and it is also the entrance used by VIPs for their private meetings in the West Wing. Pictured: The newly renovated West Wing Lobby of the White House is seen in Washington.

On Wednesday, a day before the new NBC report came out, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre suggested that a member of the public on a tour may have left the Schedule A substance in a 'heavily-traveled area' of the West Wing. 'This is a heavily, heavily trafficked - heavily traveled to be more accurate - area of the campus of the White House. And it is where visitors to the West Wing come,' Jean-Pierre said. 'I just don't have anything else - I'm not going to speculate on who it was.' She spurned additional questions she called 'hypotheticals' about the investigation, and directed further inquiries to the USSS. 'We have confidence that the Secret Service is going to get to the bottom of this,' she added. Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12274911/White-House-cocaine-scandal-sparks-investigation-Republican-security-failures.html?ito=msngallery

Want more stories like this from the Daily Mail? Visit our profile page here and hit the follow button above for more of the news you need.