White House cocaine culprit 'unlikely to be found': report

On Wednesday, officials confirmed that the powdery substance discovered at the White House over the weekend was, in fact, cocaine. Since then, there has been much speculation about who could have left it there.

An investigation was quickly launched into the situation, however, an official familiar with proceedings has suggested it will be almost impossible to track down the drug's original owner given the number of people who frequent the area where it was found in the West Exec basement entryway of the West Wing.

According to Politico, when asked about the possibility of pinpointing the cocaine's origins, the unidentified source said it's "gonna be very difficult for us to do that because of where it was."

"Even if there were surveillance cameras, unless you were waving it around, it may not have been caught," they explained. "It's a bit of a thoroughfare. People walk by there all the time."

The outlet stated that the person responsible was "unlikely to be found."

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre revealed during a briefing on Wednesday that the cocaine had been discovered in the heavily trafficked West Wing, an area of the building frequented by politicians, their families, staff, and tourists alike. 

She noted, however, that Biden and his family had not been present when the substance was first discovered on Sunday. Joe, Jill, and Hunter left on Friday for Camp David, and returned to the White House on Tuesday for Independence Day festivities. Hunter Biden, who has been open about his addiction problems, was at the White House last week.

Jean-Pierre said Biden "thinks it’s very important to get to the bottom of this," explaining that the Secret Service had been tasked with investigating the incident.

When asked whether the Biden administration would pursue prosecution of the culprit if they were ever found, the press secretary said was "not going to get into hypotheticals."