DRAW A LINE
Ex-Secret Service director ‘wanted to destroy cocaine found in White House’ after Hunter Biden stay, claim insiders
The officer who found the substance was not a part of President Biden's regular detail
FORMER Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has been accused of wanting to destroy cocaine evidence found in the White House last July.
Cheatle recently resigned from her post following backlash to the handling of Donald Trump's assassination attempt on July 13.
6
6
New information has now come to light about her tenure at the White House.
Last July, the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division found a bag of cocaine in the White House while President Biden was at Camp David.
The officer who located the bag informed Cheatle and Acting Secret Service Director Ron Rowe of his discovery, who told him to follow a specific investigative protocol, three sources told Real Clear Politics.
The officer was then taken off the case and heated conversations ensued on how best to handle the incident.
Read more on Secret Service
The Secret Service Forensics Services Division and the Uniformed Division pushed back on Cheatle, who wanted to keep the discovery quiet.
Cheatle reportedly didn't want to set off a media firestorm, sources told RCP.
The discovery of cocaine in the White House was already a difficult situation for leaders to maneuver, but Hunter Biden's past substance abuse addiction presented an additional layer of sensitivity.
Hunter was facing legal troubles relating to a firearm he purchased while allegedly under the influence.
Most read in The US Sun
He was found guilty in June on charges related to the purchase.
The cocaine discovery instantly became a top headline and prompted speculation from across the aisle.
Secret Service Director Resigns After Failed Trump Assassination Attempt
Top Republicans accused the Secret Service of knowing who the cocaine belonged to but refusing to cover it up.
Accusations quickly swirled that the cocaine belonged to Hunter after he had stayed at the White House.
Hunter has been open about his addiction to cocaine, crack cocaine, and other substances, but maintained he has been sober since 2021.
A video went viral in 2022 of Hunter at a health spa in Newburyport, Massachusetts, in January 2019.
The footage revealed Hunter with what appeared to be a crack pipe and a can of hard seltzer.
Hunter was also linked to a series of text messages asking the president for financial help.
He reportedly had business dealings with infamous drug dealer James Whitney Bulger, The Sun previously reported.
It was repeatedly denied that the cocaine found in the White House belonged to Hunter, and the Secret Service was unable to pin who brought the substance into the White House.
THE SCENE OF THE DISCOVERY
A series of events unfolded after the officer located the cocaine which led to the national attention of the discovery.
Since the president was away during the holiday weekend, his regular detail wasn't in the White House.
The officer who found the cocaine was a part of the Uniformed Division.
Typically, if an illegal narcotic is found in the White House Complex, the president's protective detail would dispose of it without making it public.
Officers are instructed to call a Technical Security Division investigator within the Secret Service.
However, since the discovery was made on a weekend, the officer called the DC Fire and Emergency Medical Service Department instead.
The department evacuated the White House and the bag was sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's crime lab.
The evacuation sent off alarm bells to the press and a source told RCP that leaders shifted to "crisis communications mode."
RCP's source also revealed that Cheatle had called vault supervisor Matt White and asked him to destroy the bag of cocaine.
Glenn Dennis, the head of the Forensics Services Division and White's boss then stepped in and the evidence was kept.
"It really pissed off Cheatle," a source in the Secret Service told RCP.
6
6
THE INVESTIGATION
The officer found the substance inside a vestibule leading to the lobby of West Executive Avenue.
White House staffers, press, and guests can pass through the vestibule.
The room was used to store electronic and personal devices that aren't permitted in the West Wing, per the Secret Service.
There was no surveillance footage available and no person of interest was named.
The FBI didn't find enough DNA on the bag to compare against the "known pool of individuals," according to a statement from the Secret Service at the time.
However, sources told RCP that the Secret Service ran the DNA against national criminal databases and received a "partial hit."
The term refers to when DNA matches a blood relative of a pool of people.
"The FBI needs to explain who the partial hit was against, then determine what blood family member has ties to the White House or what person matching the partial hit was present at the White House that weekend," the source told the publication.
Hunter Biden's legal troubles
Hunter Biden was found guilty on all three felony charges related to a gun purchase in June. Here's a breakdown of his legal troubles,
- 2013 - Hunter Biden joined a Shanghai-based investment company that later drew criticism for its legitimacy.
- 2014 - Hunter was discharged from the Navy Reserve after testing positive for cocaine use and joined the board of a Ukrainian energy company. The company was later investigated for corruption.
- 2015 - Hunter relapsed after his brother Beau died.
- 2018 - Hunter purchased a handgun while allegedly under the influence of narcotics. He maintained that he wasn't using drugs.
- 2019 - A laptop was left at a repair shop under Hunter Biden's name. The shop's owner copied the computer's contents and gave it to the FBI.
- 2019 - A DNA test confirms that Hunter had a child with a woman named Lunden Alexis Roberts and is ordered to pay child support.
- 2020 - The Justice Department begins an investigation into tax and money laundering allegations against Hunter.
- 2023 - Hunter pleads guilty to two misdemeanor counts of failing to pay his taxes.
- 2023 - Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy opens an impeachment inquiry into President Biden and accuses him of lying about Hunter's business dealings.
- 2023 - Hunter is charged with lying about his drug use while purchasing a handgun in September. Three months later he was charged with a scheme to evade taxes from foreign business assets.
- 2024 - Hunter is found guilty on all three counts of purchasing a gun while under the influence.
Cheatle reportedly also choose not to run additional searches for DNA matches, according to RCP's sources.
Investigators didn't interview those who passed through the vestibule either.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said at the time that interviewing 500 people would be a strain on resources.
“Without physical evidence, the investigation will not be able to single out a person of interest from the hundreds of individuals who passed through the vestibule where the cocaine was discovered," Guglielmi said.
Ronald Rowe, who served as Cheatle's deputy director has stepped in as Acting Director since her resignation.
The intense scrutiny in recent weeks against the Secret Service has prompted a group of House lawmakers to draft a bill on the director's confirmation process.
Read More on The US Sun
Currently, the president appoints a director without approval from Congress.
The new bill proposes that the director must sit through a public hearing before assuming the position.
Hunter Biden's next steps
Hunter Biden was found guilty on all counts in his gun trial and is now facing 25 years in prison.
After three hours of deliberation, a jury convicted Hunter, 54, on all charges on Tuesday.
Judge Maryellen Noreika didn't schedule a sentencing date, however, federal guidelines offer a glimpse into what may be on the horizon for the President's son.
Guidelines call for a sentence of 15 to 21 months for Hunter with experts saying that defendants typically get shorter sentences and are less likely to be incarcerated if they comply with the rules of pretrial release.
Hunter's attorney Abbe Lowell said he is pursuing legal to overturn his conviction.
The 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in May that Hunter has to wait until after the verdict to appeal several rulings made by Noreika to dismiss the charges.
Meanwhile, Hunter's trial in Los Angeles, California, on nine tax charges has been scheduled for September 5.
He is accused of allegedly failing to pay at least $1.4 million in self-assessed taxes from 2016 to 2019 and of evading tax assessment in 2018 when he filed bogus returns, according to an indictment.
6
6