FBI reopens investigation into cocaine at White House, leaked Dobbs opinion
The FBI has decided to reopen or push for more resources for three major cases that garnered high-profile interest -- and drew ire from some congressional Republicans, Deputy Director Dan Bongino announced on Monday.
The cases include a 2021 pipe bomber the night before Jan. 6, the cocaine found at the Biden White House over the Fourth of July weekend in 2023 and a leaked draft of a landmark Supreme Court opinion.
"Shortly after swearing in, the Director and I evaluated a number of cases of potential public corruption that, understandably, have garnered public interest," Bongino posted on X. "We made the decision to either re-open, or push additional resources and investigative attention, to these cases.
"I receive requested briefings on these cases weekly and we are making progress," he added. "If you have any investigative tips on these matters that may assist us then please contact the FBI."
In July 2023, over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, cocaine was found at the White House, but the Secret Service closed the case on July 12, 2023, saying it couldn't identify a suspect.
The cocaine was found in an area that the White House said hundreds of people had access to and that there was no security footage of the incident.
"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 where the cocaine was discovered," the FBI said in a statement that July. "At this time, the Secret Service's investigation is closed due to a lack of physical evidence."
House Republicans criticized the closure of the investigation, saying it raised security concerns at the White House.
"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," House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., wrote on July 7 to then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.
The FBI is also looking into who leaked the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, which led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, sending abortion rights decisions down to the state level. The Supreme Court's investigative authority looked into the leak but couldn't determine who the leaker was.
The opinion was written by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and was leaked by Politico on May 2, 2022. Though over 100 employees at the Supreme Court were interviewed in an internal investigation, no justices were interviewed, and the court could not determine who leaked the opinion.
Congressional Republicans blamed the leak on liberals and called for a congressional investigation.
"Yesterday's unprecedented leak is an attempt to severely damage the Supreme Court," then-House Majority Whip Steve Scalise said at the time. "This clearly coordinated campaign to intimidate and obstruct the Justices of the United States Supreme Court, and its independence in our political system, from upholding the Constitution must be immediately investigated by the court.
The pipe bombing case occurred when two explosive devices were placed outside the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee offices in Washington, D.C., a day before a Pro-Trump mob staged the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The FBI has offered a $500,000 reward for information leading to the identification or arrest of the person who left the pipe bombs, which remains in place, but the agency has been unable to make significant gains in finding a suspect over four years since the incident.
The case has vexed law enforcement and was a talking point of FBI Director Kash Patel's even before he assumed his post as head of the FBI. Law enforcement has been unable to find out who placed the devices despite video evidence of the incidents.
