The FBI has launched a new investigation into the 2023 discovery of cocaine inside the White House, alongside renewed efforts to identify the source of the 2022 Supreme Court draft leak that preceded the ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino announced Monday.
"Shortly after swearing in, the Director and I evaluated a number of cases of potential public corruption that, understandably, have garnered public interest," Bongino wrote in a post on X. "We made the decision to either re-open, or push additional resources and investigative attention, to these cases. These cases are the DC pipe bombing investigation, the cocaine discovery at the prior administration's White House, and the leak of the Supreme Court Dobbs case."
The decision revives scrutiny around the July 2023 discovery of a small bag of cocaine in a cubby area near the West Wing's entrance. The incident triggered widespread speculation, particularly among Republicans, about who may have brought drugs into one of the most secure buildings in the country.
At the time of the discovery, President Joe Biden and his family were away from Washington, D.C., celebrating the Fourth of July weekend. Within two weeks, the Secret Service concluded that there was a "lack of evidence" due to the absence of identifiable fingerprints and insufficient surveillance footage to determine a suspect. "Without physical evidence, the investigation will not be able to single out a person of interest from the hundreds of individuals who passed through the vestibule," the agency said in a statement.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre sharply criticized speculation about the Biden family's involvement. "To ask that question is actually incredibly irresponsible," she said during a press briefing on July 7, 2023.
Former President Donald Trump repeatedly invoked the incident during campaign appearances, suggesting without evidence that either "Joe or Hunter" Biden could be responsible. "When they went to look at it, it was absolutely stone cold, wiped dry," Trump said.
Bongino, a former Secret Service agent and right-wing media figure, claimed in earlier public remarks that whistleblowers had expressed concerns the evidence "could match a member of the inner Biden circle," though he has not provided documentation to support that allegation.
The FBI's new probe is part of a broader initiative by Bongino and FBI Director Christopher Wray to revisit unresolved incidents with high political visibility. Alongside the White House cocaine investigation, the bureau is also renewing its inquiry into the May 2022 leak of the draft Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization opinion.
That unprecedented leak, which revealed the Supreme Court's plan to overturn the constitutional right to abortion, sparked outrage across the political spectrum. Trump demanded that the journalist or journalists responsible be jailed until they revealed their source, calling the leaker "slime."
Investigations conducted by both the Supreme Court and Secret Service into the respective matters concluded without identifying a perpetrator. Neither institution immediately responded to requests for comment on the FBI's announcement.
Bongino also confirmed increased resources are being allocated to the investigation of two pipe bombs found near the Democratic and Republican National Committee headquarters in Washington on January 5, 2021-just one day before the Capitol was stormed. The bombs were safely defused, and no suspect has ever been publicly named.
