A White House official used the Hatch Act to avoid questions about who owned the cocaine found in the West Wing on July 2. The Act, enacted by Congress in 1939, intends to limit and regulate the political activities of specific government employees. It is unclear how it applies in relation to the drugs find.
A reporter asked deputy press secretary Andrew Bates for a response to Donald Trump’s claims the drug may even have belonged to the President. He replied, “I don’t have a response to that, because we have to be careful about the Hatch Act.” Attorney Bradley P. Moss later said he was at a loss as to how the Hatch Act was relevant. Another lawyer, Richard Painter, said, “This is the most ridiculous invocation of the Hatch act I’ve ever heard.”
Donald Trump took to his Truth Social media account to comment on the matter, while again accusing the Bidens of orchestrating the FBI raid on his home in Florida last year. “Was Crooked Joe Biden on Cocaine when he instructed the FBI/DOJ to illegally invade my home, Mar-a-Lago?” Trump asked.
The former President suggested that Hunter Biden was probably the culprit, but his father may also be using cocaine to “give this total disaster of a President a little life and energy!”
Some commentators and social media users are accusing the White House of covering up the cocaine story. The substance was found on July 2, but the location of the find was revised three times by officials. Former FBI agent and Trump Border Commissioner Mark Morgan said the culprit should have been found by now. “An investigation like this is pretty straightforward. Everybody that enters the White House is manifested.”
He added that there are cameras everywhere, and officials are fully aware of who comes in, who leaves, and where they are in the meantime. He suggested Biden’s team may be obstructing the investigation.
