dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

In later years, the tunnel has been used by persons who needed to exit or depart the White House without public or press attention. Tricia Nixon and her husband, Edward F. Cox, departed the White House via the tunnel after their 1972 Rose Garden wedding.[1]

According to Bill Gulley, longtime head of the White House Military Office, the tunnel was used by male White House aides to sneak their girlfriends and mistresses into the building to have sexual intercourse in the Lincoln Bedroom during the presidencies of Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter.[a][1] Lyndon Johnson also used the tunnel to avoid Vietnam War protesters when departing the White House.[10] An allegation that the White House to Treasury Building tunnel was used by Bill Clinton to facilitate extramarital liaisons has been discredited.[11][12]

A 1996 fire in the Treasury Building led the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) to investigate fire safety around the building. The investigation showed that there were no smoke detectors and fire barrier separation in the tunnel.

Tunnels connecting the Treasury

The Treasury Building is the center of a network of tunnels. In addition to the tunnel connecting it to the White House,another connects to the Treasury Annex,constructed in 1919 and known since 2015 as Freedman's Bank Building.[10][14][15] Unlike the White House to Treasury Building tunnel, which was constructed as an emergency exit, the other tunnel was built to facilitate the movement of freight and access to utility lines.

Richard Nixon, pictured center, reportedly used the Project ZP tunnel to discretely access the Oval Office for at least one meeting with Ronald Reagan.

Tunnel "Project ZP"

According to a 1996 issue of U.S. News & World Report, a 150-foot (46 m) tunnel was dug into the White House connecting the Oval Office to a location in the East Wing. The tunnel is purportedly accessed through a door adjacent to the president's restroom, which leads to a staircase used to enter the tunnel. The excavation of this tunnel, called "Project ZP", was undertaken in 1987 to provide a route for the president to be quickly and privately moved to the Presidential Emergency Operations Center in the event of an emergency. During the last days of the Reagan presidency, the Project ZP tunnel was allegedly used, in combination with the White House to Treasury Building tunnel, to allow Richard Nixon discreet access to the Oval Office for at least one consultation with Ronald Reagan.[16][17]

White House Big Dig

During the 2011 White House Big Dig, a tunnel was excavated near the West Wing. According to officials, that tunnel was intended for access to utilitie