Ex-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle Was Furious When She Didn't Get Her Way in White House Cocaine Investigation: Report
A bag of cocaine found at the White House last year has added further controversy to the tenure of former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.
As reported by RealClearPolitics on Monday, Cheatle allegedly wanted the bag of cocaine discovered on July 2, 2023, to be destroyed immediately. Sources claim she was extremely upset when her request was denied.
“A decision was made not to get rid of the evidence, and it really p*ssed off Cheatle,” a source told Susan Crabtree, RealClearPolitics' national political correspondent.
However, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi denied these allegations. Despite this, the agency's handling of the investigation raises numerous questions for the public.
The investigation, which lasted only 11 days, concluded without identifying any suspects. The Secret Service claimed it was impossible to determine the owner of the cocaine, a move that was met with ridicule from Republicans and social media users alike.
The officer from the Secret Service Uniformed Division initially assigned to the case was removed after expressing a desire to follow specific crime-scene investigative protocols. This was reported by Crabtree, citing unnamed sources.
Given Hunter Biden’s documented history of drug use, the cocaine discovery posed “an unusual problem for Cheatle,” according to Crabtree. Cheatle’s close relationship with Jill Biden reportedly helped her secure the top Secret Service position, adding another layer of complexity to the situation.
The incident inevitably caused embarrassment for the Biden family. Despite Guglielmi's denial, Crabtree reported that destroying the cocaine evidence would have been a routine procedure if found by a member of the Bidens’ security detail in a private area of the White House.
“If drugs or other ‘contraband’ were found by the inner-most ring of protective agents assigned to the first family, they would typically dispose of it,” Crabtree wrote, based on information from three Secret Service sources.
However, the cocaine was found by a uniformed officer who, fearing it could be hazardous, called the District of Columbia’s Emergency Medical Services Department. The White House evacuation that followed included reporters, making the discovery public.
The bag was sent to an FBI crime lab, where no fingerprints were found. However, a “partial hit” for DNA evidence was detected, indicating a possible match with a blood relative from a limited pool of people, according to Crabtree.
Despite this lead, the Secret Service closed the investigation, citing the impossibility of identifying the culprit without infringing on the civil rights of others.
Miranda Devine of the New York Post criticized this decision in a column published on July 17, 2023: “Hah! Tell that to the hundreds of people rounded up by the FBI for just being in the vicinity of the Capitol on January 6, 2021.”
Ultimately, Cheatle’s goal of making the cocaine incident disappear seemed to prevail. This event, along with a failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump under Cheatle’s watch, has marred her leadership.
In light of these events and the latest RealClearPolitics report, Cheatle’s reputation continues to suffer, despite the Secret Service's denials.