A Heritage Foundation employee faces a drug-possession charge after a security screening at a Senate office building turned what tested presumptively positive as cocaine and fentanyl, according to court records.
Capitol Police officers detained Matthew Christopher Wingate on July 14 after he entered the Russell Senate Office Building and placed his bag on the X-ray belt as part of routine screening, according to an affidavit filed in Washington, D.C., superior court.
Wingate is the government-relations director for defense and foreign policy at the Heritage Foundation, and previously worked as a national security adviser for Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and a military legislative assistant for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), according to Legistorm.
An officer observed an image consistent with a pistol magazine inside the brown briefcase, and a secondary screening found a magazine with 10 rounds of 9 mm ammunition, the affidavit states.
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Officers placed him under arrest, the affidavit states. That was apparently because of the magazine. Firearms and ammunition are generally prohibited from being carried into Senate office buildings.
Officers ran a check through the Metropolitan Police Department’s Gun Registry Unit, which confirmed Wingate held a valid license to carry a firearm in D.C., the affidavit states.
A crime-scene officer discovered a plastic sandwich bag in the exterior pocket of the briefcase containing four capsules and three blue-pressed tablets, the affidavit states. Field testing of the blue pills, which were imprinted with the letter “A” on one side and “7 6” on the other side, returned a presumptive positive result for cocaine and fentanyl, the affidavit states.
Under questioning, Wingate said he forgot the magazine was in the briefcase and “explained that the drugs were his and were prescribed to him from a medical professional,” the affidavit states.
Wingate did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The Heritage Foundation and Wingate’s lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.
Wingate was released from custody on the misdemeanor charge and has an Aug. 27 court date, according to court records.
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