WASHINGTON — The FBI announced it is putting fresh resources into investigating a trio of unsolved, high-profile cases from the Biden administration.
The cases include an incident in which cocaine was found at the White House in 2023, the leak of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and the planting of pipe bombs near the Democratic and Republican parties’ headquarters the night before the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino made the announcement Monday in a post on X intended to be an update to the public on the work of the nation’s top law enforcement agency. In the post, Bongino said he and FBI Director Kash Patel, made the decision to either reopen or designate new time and resources to the three cases after conducting an evaluation shortly after being sworn into their roles.
The three cases cited by Bongino drew particular interest from the public, particularly on the right.
In the case of the cocaine, which was found in the lobby area of the West Executive Avenue entrance to the White House where phones and other personal devices are temporarily kept before entering the West Wing, the U.S. Secret Service closed their investigation in less than two weeks, citing a “lack of physical evidence.”
“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,” a press release from the Secret Service read at the time.
Meanwhile, the May 2022 leak to Politico of a draft opinion showing the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the national right to an abortion established in Roe v. Wade angered many, including President Donald Trump, who was out of office at the time. A statement from the Supreme Court in January 2023 said investigators were “unable to identify a person responsible” for the leak and no signs of a breakthrough have been made public since.
Investigators have also been unable to find who placed pipe bombs near the buildings that house the Democratic and Republican national committees in Washington on Jan. 5, 2021, despite offering monetary rewards for information leading to the person’s arrest and releasing new video of the suspect planting the devices in January of this year.
Bongino noted he receives weekly briefings on each case, declaring his team is making “progress” and asking the public to contact the FBI about any potential tips.
In his post, the FBI’s second-ranking official added that he and Patel are still in the process of filing out their teams but hope to have their staff fully in place by next week.
”The hiring process can take a little bit of time, but we are approaching that finish line,” he wrote. “This will help us both in doubling down on our reform agenda.”
Bongino also referenced he and Patel’s rare interview with Fox News last week in which they surprised some on the right by dismissing the conspiracy theory that financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein didn't kill himself. The deputy director said more information would be coming on topics discussed in the interview in general, noting the rarity of the television sit-down as the pair have chosen to “limit our media footprint.”
”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,” he wrote.
