US FBI launches new probes into 2023 White House cocaine incident, Dobbs Supreme Court leak
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Former US president Joe Biden and son Hunter Biden stepping out of a bookstore while shopping in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on Nov 29, 2024.
PHOTO: AFP
WASHINGTON – The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) will launch new probes into the 2023 discovery of cocaine at the White House during former US president Joe Biden’s term and the 2022 leak of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion overturning Roe v Wade, a top official announced on May 26.
Mr Dan Bongino, a right-wing podcaster turned FBI deputy director, made the announcement on X, saying he had requested weekly briefings on the cases’ progress.
Both incidents have been popular talking points on America’s right.
The discovery of a small bag of cocaine in a cubbyhole near the entrance to the West Wing two years ago drew excited commentary from Republicans, including Mr Donald Trump, then the Republican presidential candidate, who said it was implausible that the drugs could belong to anyone beyond Mr Biden and his son Hunter – even though the Biden family was away from Washington at the time.
A White House spokesperson at the time said the allegations were “incredibly irresponsible”. A spokesperson for Mr Biden declined to comment on May 26 about the new probe.
The May 2, 2022, publication of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organisation, which ended the constitutional right to abortion
Previous investigations into both cases, by the Secret Service and the Supreme Court, respectively, ended without identifying who was responsible for the cocaine or the leak.
The Supreme Court and the Secret Service did not immediately return messages seeking comment on May 26.
Mr Bongino has previously alleged, without presenting any evidence, that he was in touch with whistle-blowers who told him they were “suspicious” that evidence from the White House cocaine bag “could match a member of the inner Biden circle”.
Mr Bongino also announced more resources for the FBI’s investigation into the placement of pipe bombs at the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee in Washington in January 2021.
The bombs, which were later defused, had been planted the night before Mr Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol in a failed bid to block Congress from certifying Mr Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election.
The perpetrator has never been publicly identified. REUTERS
