GOP Sen. Tom Cotton Demands Answers About Cocaine Found At White House

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) is demanding answers after a substance confirmed to be cocaine was found on the ground floor of the White House over the weekend.

The substance was discovered by Secret Service agents Sunday in an area near where visitors are directed to leave their phones when taking tours of the West Wing, which contains the Oval Office. President Joe Biden and his family were away at Camp David for the weekend and returned to the White House on Tuesday.

In a letter addressed to the Secret Service on Wednesday, Cotton requested a list of individuals allowed on White House grounds without a security screening and information as to whether and how many times illegal drugs have been discovered in the complex in the past five years.

“If the White House complex is not secure, Congress needs to know the details, as well as your plan to correct any security flaws,” the Arkansas Republican wrote.

The White House has referred all questions about the matter to the Secret Service.

“This is under the purview of the Secret Service. They are currently investigating,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at a briefing Wednesday, noting that the cocaine was found in a “heavily traveled area” of the building.

“We have confidence they will get to the bottom of this,” she added.