WASHINGTON – The White House on Friday released a photo of the updated Situation Room – giving a glimpse into a highly secure area near where a small amount of cocaine was found over the summer.
The photos show a complex of specially wired rooms on the ground floor of the West Wing both after completion on August 16 and during the subsequent presidential ribbon cutting on September 5.
The main conference room’s drab beige walls and unusual wooden board room tables have been replaced with dramatic dark wood wall panels and chevron-patterned board tables adorned with light and dark stripes.
The reworked conference room – where the president has monitored world crises and daring missions such as the killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in 2011 – also features new black leather seating with matching tablecloths and a TV screen on the wall.
A dimly lit operations center adjacent to the main room is shown with two rows of desks with computers and telephones. Dramatic deep blue ceiling lighting and a backlit image of the nation’s Great Seal on the wall resemble the staging of a command center in a homeland security-themed TV show.
Biden is pictured cutting the ribbon following a yearlong renovation of the approximately 5,500-square-foot facility created in 1961 at the behest of John F. Kennedy following the Bay of Pigs fiasco.
The reopening of the Situation Room follows an embarrassing controversy involving cocaine that was found on July 2 in a small room outside the secure area.AP
President Biden stands in the reception area as he attends a ribbon cutting for the renovated White House Situation Room, Sept. 5. 2023.AP
In one photo, Biden holds a wooden presidential seal with Situation Room director Marc Gustafson.
The Situation Room is located below the office of the White House chief of staff in the southwest corner of the West Wing. The Oval Office is located one floor above the Situation Room in the southeast corner of the West Wing.
The reopening of the Situation Room follows the scandalous controversy surrounding the discovery of white powder on July 2 in a small room outside the secure area.
The Secret Service closed its investigation into the matter on July 13 without conducting any interviews with the possible perpetrators, saying there were “hundreds of individuals who went through the lobby.”
Situation Room before renovation in February 2022. White House
The Situation Room is located below the office of the White House chief of staff in the southwest corner of the West Wing.AP
Both of the president’s adult children have been accused of using cocaine in the past.
A friend tried to sell a video of first daughter Ashley Biden allegedly sniffing drugs in 2009 and first son Hunter’s abandoned laptop contained photos of him with cocaine paraphernalia.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre last July described as “irresponsible” speculation that members of the first family may have been involved in leaving cocaine in one of the world’s most secure areas – despite the president’s relatives visiting the executive mansion on Friday before the discovery. the drug is sunday.
The White House released the image as the president arrived in India to attend the annual G-20 summit this weekend.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
