The Secret Service on Thursday announced it had closed its investigation into
“Yes, you could have a consensual interview,” he said, meaning the interviews would be voluntary. “But we have no evidence to approach them.”
Gugliemi said the small amount of cocaine, 208 milligrams or about .007 ounce, would only result in a misdemeanor charge in the District of Columbia and the agency determined that did not warrant the expenditure of resources it would take to interview 500 people.
The incident drew much public attention in recent days, including criticism from Republicans who accused the Biden administration of not doing enough to find the culprit.
Former President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Thursday, “Despite all of the cameras pointing directly at the ‘scene of the crime,’ and the greatest forensics anywhere in the World, they just can’t figure it out? They know the answer, and so does everyone else!”
Chuck Rosenberg, a former U.S. attorney and acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration under then-President Barack Obama, said law enforcement agencies need to consider their resources when making decisions about who and what to investigate.
“They could have done the interviews, but at the end of the day it’s a long walk through dry sand,” said Rosenberg, an NBC News contributor. “They have finite resources and it’s OK for them to decide some things are worth their time and some things are not worth their time.”
Julia Ainsley is homeland security correspondent for NBC News and covers the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department for the NBC News Investigative Unit.
Kelly O’Donnell contributed.