The cocaine found in the White House was bagged up right away, but the story has only grown.
Biden administration staff and the Secret Service have mostly downplayed the discovery since it came to widespread public attention on July 4. With the investigation now closed, Republicans at all levels of government demand to know more.
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Presidential candidate Nikki Haley cried cover-up, saying she has been to the area where the cocaine was found and that it's one of the most secure parts of the West Wing.
"I strongly believe this is a cover-up for either Hunter [Biden] or someone very close to the president, and they don't want to say who it is," she said.
From the beginning, the White House has emphasized that many people had access to the discovery site while defending against the idea that the cocaine implies lax security standards.
The initial find caused a shutdown of the White House while officials determined what the substance was. Reports first placed the location as a library, but the Secret Service then said it was in a "work area" of the West Wing and subsequently that the cocaine was in an area accessible to both staff and tourists.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan later suggested the stash could have belonged to construction workers renovating the Situation Room, while press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre scolded a reporter for asking if it belonged to a Biden.
The White House also downplayed the likelihood that the cocaine's owner would be found. On July 5, less than 72 hours after the discovery, a law enforcement source leaked to Politico that the owner of the drugs would likely never be known. On July 13, the Secret Service concluded its investigation without naming a suspect.
While the Biden administration might like for that to be the final chapter, Republicans are making sure that isn't the case.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) is pressing for more information, as are House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA).
And despite White House messaging that the cocaine could have belonged to hundreds of different people, GOPers have focused heavily on troubled presidential son Hunter Biden, who has a well-documented history of drug use and was on the campus two days before the discovery.
Reacting to news that the Secret Service inquiry identified no suspects, Cotton drew a colorful analogy.
"This is like if Hamburglar lived in the White House, all the hamburgers disappeared, and they said they didn't have any suspects or no one they could question," Cotton quipped.
Former President Donald Trump was even more direct, writing on his Truth Social platform, "Does anybody really believe that the cocaine found in the West Wing of the White House, very close to the Oval Office, is for the use of anyone other than Hunter & Joe Biden?"
That led Hunter Biden's lawyer to send Trump a cease-and-desist letter charging that the comments could lead to violence.
The cocaine story has created a circus atmosphere in some contexts, with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson doing a two-minute monologue over it and online sports books releasing odds over who the drugs belonged to.
Reporters are still curious about the cocaine as well. Several asked about the investigation during Monday's White House press briefing.
"Is the president satisfied with the explanation that someone was able to bring an illegal substance into the White House because there are hundreds of people who come here?" one asked.
Jean-Pierre responded by saying the investigation was thorough and pointing back to statements from the Secret Service.
Ultimately, the administration is making the right call by placing its focus elsewhere, argues Democratic strategist Brad Bannon.
"The Biden administration has much bigger fish to fry," he said. "They've just undertaken a new initiative to sell their economic agenda and program, and rather than get caught up in whatever miscellaneous issues the Republicans bring up, the administration should focus on its top priorities."
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Though the cocaine story clearly animates voices on the right, Bannon argues it's not something independent voters are interested in.
"This is big in the right-wing echo chamber," he said. "That's not who the administration is trying to reach. They're trying to reach swing voters who care more about the economy than anything else."