Ted Cruz has said he does not believe Hunter Biden was responsible for the cocaine found on the White House grounds – instead claiming it was a White House official.
On Thursday, NBC News reported the bag of powder was found near the White House’s West Executive entrance, not the West Wing lobby, as was previously said.
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.
Joe Biden and his son Hunter, a recovering cocaine addict, were at Camp David when the discovery was made.
On Friday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to say whether the Biden family had been officially ruled out, but would not give any details on the investigation. The Secret Service are carrying out DNA and fingerprint analysis to try and find out who brought it to the White House grounds.
Senator Ted Cruz on Friday said he did not believe that any of the Biden family were involved in bringing cocaine to the White House, but accused the administration of a cover up
Ted Cruz on Friday said he did not believe Hunter Biden was responsible for bringing cocaine into the White House. The Bidens were at Camp David at the time the cocaine was found. They are seen on July 4, having returned after their weekend away
‘You know, there has been some irresponsible reporting about the family and so I’ve got to call that out here,’ the press secretary said.
‘And I have been very clear.’ Cruz on Friday accused the White House of a ‘cover up’, which he said was ‘astonishing’.
‘You know, my guess is it probably isn’t Hunter’s,’ said Cruz, speaking on Friday’s episode of his podcast, Verdict.
‘I don’t know that, obviously. We know that Hunter has a drug problem. We know that he has used cocaine and use crack cocaine in the past.
‘But I doubt Hunter Biden is going in the West Wing all that often and going in that entrance all that often.’
The Texas senator speculated that a ‘senior Biden official’ was responsible.
‘I think it is in all likelihood someone who works in the Biden administration, some senior Biden official, which makes the cover-up all that the more astonishing,’ he continued.
He said he was surprised that the Secret Service had not yet found who was responsible.
‘That’s insane,’ he said. ‘And the only reason they would put out a statement saying we will never know who it was, is the same reason why the DOJ and the FBI is engaged in a cover-up of Hunter Biden’s acts of criminality, of Joe Biden’s acts of criminality.
‘Sadly, this administration is more than willing to politicize, look, it would be embarrassing if we discover that a senior White House aide is bringing cocaine into the west wing to do schedule-one, serious drugs in the White House.
‘And so their answer instead is, of course, we’re not going to prosecute it. We’re not going to investigate it.
‘And you know what, we’ll just never know who did it.’
There have been three White House locales where the cocaine was said to be found, with NBC reporting Thursday that the discovery was made in cubbies at the West Executive Entrance
Hunter Biden (center) walks with his father President Joe Biden (left) toward Marine One at Fort McNair in Washington on Friday, as they depart for a weekend away at Camp David. Karine Jean-Pierre falsely said the Bidens were not at the White House last Friday
New details reveal the cocaine at the White House was found near the White House’s West Executive entrance – above President Joe Biden walks with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan across West Executive Avenue in October 2021 with the West Executive entrance to the White House visible behind them
Prior to Friday’s briefing, Jean-Pierre had answered questions about the cocaine discovery by telling reporters to reach out to the Secret Service, who are conducting an investigation.
As of Friday afternoon prior to the briefing, a spokesman for the Secret Service told DailyMail.com that the probe remained ‘open and active.’
When a question was posed to deputy press secretary Andrew Bates on board Air Force One Thursday, he brought up the Hatch Act.
Bates had been asked about former President Donald Trump claiming the drugs belonged to the president and his son Hunter, a recovering crack cocaine addict.
Jean-Pierre was asked Friday to explain Bates’ decision to reference the Hatch Act, instead of answer the claims directly.
‘He mentioned the Hatch Act because the question was posed to him using Donald Trump, and so he was trying to be very mindful,’ she answered.
‘And that’s why he said the Hatch Act.’
She told the reporter to read the transcript carefully.
‘So we’re not avoiding the question, that is not true. We have answered this question, we have litigated this question the last two days, exhaustively,’ she said.
Earlier in the briefing, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was also asked about the cocaine – and whether there were any national security repercussions.
Sullivan revealed that the coke’s proximity to the Situation Room wasn’t a problem, because the space hasn’t been in use.
‘I would make a point about the Situation Room because I think there’s been a lot questionable reporting on this.
‘The Situation Room is not in use and has not been in use for months because it is currently under construction,’ Sullivan said.
‘We are using an alternative Situation Room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, so the only people coming in and going out of the Sit Room in this period have been workers who are getting it ready to go,’ he added.
He said that the project is ‘on time and on schedule,’ then adding, ‘No, there was no issue with the Situation Room relative to this.’
Sullivan went further by noting that there are ‘rigorous drug testing policies at the White House.’
‘We have rigorous drug use policies at the White House. We take those extremely seriously,’ he continued.
‘If it involves someone from the White House the appropriate consequences will ensue.
‘If it involves some visitor who came in and left it, then that’s a different matter, that raises a different set of questions that are less relevant to my line of work.’
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