FBI launches new probes into White House cocaine incident and Dobbs Supreme Court leak

The FBI is launching new investigations into two popular right-wing talking points, deputy director Dan Bongino announced on X.

A 2023 incident in which cocaine was found at the White House and the 2022 leak of the Supreme Court draft opinion that overturned Roe v. Wade will see probes reopened, while the investigation into the January 6, 2021, D.C. pipebombing case will get extra resources.

Bongino said he has requested weekly briefings on the cases’ progress and believes some headway is being made.

He wrote in part on X: “Shortly after swearing in, the Director and I evaluated a number of cases of potential public corruption that, understandably, have garnered public interest. We made the decision to either re-open, or push additional resources and investigative attention, to these cases.”

The director continued: “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. I receive requested briefings on these cases weekly and we are making progress. If you have any investigative tips on these matters that may assist us then please contact the FBI.”

A small bag of cocaine was found in a cubby near the entrance to a work area of the West Wing of the White House over the 4th of July holiday weekend in 2023. It drew excited commentary from Republicans, including then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who said it was implausible the drugs could belong to anyone beyond President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.

The Biden family was away from Washington at the time, and the White House said such allegations were “incredibly irresponsible.”

Both White House staffers and tour groups use that entrance to the executive wing of the complex. As there were no fingerprints or DNA found on the bag, the Secret Service deemed it impossible to identify a person of interest, and the investigation was closed.

Bongino, previously a rightwing podcaster, has alleged, with no evidence, that he has spoken with whistleblowers who said they were “suspicious” that evidence from the White House cocaine bag “could match a member of the inner Biden circle.”

The Supreme Court's draft opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which end the constitutional right to abortion, was published by Politico on May 2, 2022, and provoked condemnation from Trump, who called the source of the leak “slime” and demanded that the journalists involved be imprisoned until they revealed who it was.

As with the White House cocaine incident, an investigation ended without identifying who was responsible for the leak.

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 on the night before Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election.

The bombs were later defused, and despite security camera footage of an individual placing them, a perpetrator has never been publicly identified.

Elsewhere in his post on X, Bongino said he and FBI Director Kash Patel will have most of their incoming “reform teams” in place by next week.

“The hiring process can take a little bit of time, but we are approaching that finish line. This will help us both in doubling down on our reform agenda,” he said.

Bongino also said that he and Patel had made a decision to limit their media footprint and have therefore only given one interview together.

“The Director and I have done only one media interview together. We decided early on to limit our media footprint overall in order to keep the attention on the work being done,” he wrote. “There are both positives and negatives to this approach. We have chosen to communicate, in writing, on this platform to fill some of the inevitable information vacuums.”

Bongino added: “I try to read as much of your feedback as possible but the workday is busy, and my office is a SCIF with limited phone access. In response to feedback, both positive and negative, from our interview last week we will be releasing more information which will further clarify answers to some of the questions asked in the interview.”

With additional reporting from Reuters