After filing four articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden on Friday, U.S. Rep Greg Steube, R-Florida, filed the Helping Understand Narcotics Traces at the Executive Residence (HUNTER) Act.
The bill was filed in response to the U.S. Secret Service never identifying who was responsible for bringing cocaine into the White House in July. The legislation, which is unlikely to become law, would require the director of the Secret Service to produce a report on illicit use of controlled substances in the White House.
“The United States Secret Service (USSS) refers to themselves as one of the most elite law enforcement agencies in the world. It’s completely unacceptable that the USSS has failed to find who is responsible for bringing cocaine into one of the most secure buildings in the world,” Steube said in a statement. “The American people deserve answers. My legislation demands information on the closed investigation into the cocaine found at the White House in July and focuses on how Congress can provide oversight to prevent future illicit usage of controlled substances in the White House.”
The legislation would require that the report include:
Steps taken to avoid controlled substances from being brought into the White House;An identification of vulnerabilities where drugs can be brought into the White House;A full account of the investigation into the cocaine found at the White House, andRecommendations to Congress on how it can provide oversight or resources to prevent illicit usage of controlled substances in the Executive Branch.
Steube is referring to a white powder substance that was found in the White House on July 2, 2023, which the FBI later positively identified as cocaine. The substance was first reported to have been possibly found in the White House library. However, Secret Service later said the cocaine was found by the White House West Executive Avenue entrance. It stated on July 13 it had closed its investigation into identifying a person of interest because of a “lack of physical evidence.”
Hunter Biden, the son of the president, has struggled with cocaine addiction for years, and some speculated it could have been his, though there’s been no finding that it was. In a 2019 interview with The New Yorker, Hunter acknowledged his addiction struggle with alcohol and drugs.
On the same day Steube filed articles of impeachment and the Hunter Act, The New York Times published a timeline of Hunter’s legal troubles and lifelong struggle with substance abuse including addiction to crack cocaine.
The bill was filed Friday, the same day U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss as special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden after a plea deal in a case that fell through in June. The case involves alleged tax evasion and a felony gun charge.
In response to Garland’s announcement, a spokesperson for House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said it was a ruse after the committee had already called Weiss to testify in the fall.
On Friday, Weiss asked the presiding judge to dismiss the tax charges filed in Delaware federal court. Chris Clark, Hunter Biden’s attorney, issued a statement, saying, regardless of where the filing was made “we expect a fair resolution on behalf of our client.”
Of Weiss, Clark said, “This US attorney has diligently been investigating my client for five years and he had proposed a resolution which we fully intend to pursue in court. We are confident when all of these maneuverings are at an end my client will have resolution and will be moving on with his life successfully.”
