WASHINGTON — A briefing on the recent discovery of cocaine at the White House is set for Thursday at 10 a.m.
Spectrum News reporter Julia Benbrook, citing House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer's team, first reported the news Monday on Twitter.
Comer had demanded that the U.S. Secret Service brief lawmakers on its investigation into cocaine that was discovered in the White House the first weekend of July.
The cocaine was initially said to have been found in the West Wing itself, but NBC News and Reuters report that a source later clarified that it was found in a cubby in a West Wing entry area "where visitors place electronics and other belongings before going on tours."
According to information from the White House, spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that the location is "a heavily traveled area where many White House — West Wing — I should be even more specific — West Wing visitors come through this particular area."
Comer, R-Ky., sent a letter Friday to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle requesting the briefing by July 14 as well as additional information about the incident.
“This alarming development requires the Committee to assess White House security practices and determine whose failures led to an evacuation of the building and finding of the illegal substance,” Comer wrote in the letter.
“The presence of illegal drugs in the White House is unacceptable and a shameful moment in the White House’s history,” he added.
Secret Service agents discovered the white powder in a small, clear plastic bag Sunday and closed the White House complex as a precaution, the Secret Service said.
The Washington Fire Department was called in to test the substance to determine if it was hazardous and concluded it was cocaine. A second lab test confirmed the result.